§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what back-office improvements will be made within the Environment Agency to achieve the efficiency savings announced in the spending review. [185893]
§ Mr. MorleyThe agency is developing an efficiency strategy which builds on its current targets for efficiency savings and addresses operational changes in the organisation. The strategy will reflect the spending review announcement. The key activities that underpin the strategy include
Review of property and facilities owned and leased by the agency;Improving procurement: reducing the unit cost of goods and services through aggregation of services;Transactional services: ensuring that the handling of inquiries and invoicing is handled in the most efficient way;Productive time: examining new ways of working and reducing the scale of support services;Implementation of the National Document Imaging Strategy: rationalising photocopiers, printer and fax machines throughout the agency;Implementation of the Financial and Human Resources management information system (IBIS): an activity based recording system that will provide management information on the use of agency resources across the business.