§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the target is for efficiency savings in 2003–04 expressed(a) in money terms and (b) as a percentage of the Department's expenditure limit. [114107]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeMy Department does not have a target in the terms expressed. The Department has value for money targets arising from the Government's spending reviews in 2000 and 2002 (SR2000 & SR2002). Following SR2000, schools can now meaningfully compare costs with one another and thus improve value for money year on year. We established a framework of Consistent Financial Reporting requiring all maintained schools to report their accounts in a standardised way, which has been operational since 1 April 2003. Following SR 2002, the Department is developing a challenging target covering minimum performance and value for money in FE colleges and other post-16 providers.