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National School of Government

Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much has been spent on the National School of Government since its launch; and what the estimated expenditure is for 2005–06. [53815]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The National School of Government was launched on 20 June 2005. The National School recovers its costs through charges for services provided. Net income in the period from 1 June to 31 January was £173,000.

The estimated net expenditure for 2005–06 is nil.

Press Officers

Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many press officers have been allocated to the private office of each Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster since 1996–97. [52356]

Mr. Jim Murphy: Cabinet Office press office is a centrally run operation for the whole of Cabinet Office providing general media support. It has not allocated specific press officers to the private office of each Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster since 1996–97.

Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much is expected to be saved as a result of meeting civil service work force reductions targets in the Central Office of Information. [52807]

Mr. Jim Murphy: No civil service work force reduction targets have been set for the Central Office of Information (COI).

As a common service organisation, concentrating expertise to avoid a wasteful duplication of specialists throughout Whitehall and taking advantage of centralised purchasing, and operating as a trading fund, COI has had, and has met, annual ministerial financial and efficiency targets.

COI's income is derived from the charges that it makes to its public sector clients and is subject to the demands that clients make upon it. It must manage its resources, including the number and cost of staff, to achieve its ministerial target of breakeven, taking into account the annual efficiency target also set for it (for 2005–06 the target is to reduce the unit cost of output by 2.5 per cent.).

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what targets he has set for the Central Office of Information to achieve (a) efficiency savings and (b) civil service work force reductions. [52810]

 
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Mr. Jim Murphy: The Central Office of Information (COI) is required to achieve an efficiency improvement, which is set. For 2005–06 that target is to achieve a reduction in its unit cost of output of 2.5 per cent.

No civil service work force reduction targets have been set for the COI.

As a common service organisation, concentrating expertise to avoid a wasteful duplication of specialists throughout Whitehall and taking advantage of centralised purchasing, and operating as a trading fund, COI has had, and has met, annual ministerial financial and efficiency targets.

COI's income is derived from the charges that it makes to its public sector clients and is subject to the demands that clients make upon it. It must manage its resources, including the number and cost of staff, to achieve its ministerial target of breakeven, taking into account the annual efficiency target also set for it (for 2005–06 the target is to reduce the unit cost of output by 2.5 per cent.).

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what total efficiency savings were achieved by the Central Office of Information in 2004–05; and whether these count towards current efficiency savings targets. [52812]

Mr. Jim Murphy: In 2004–05, the Central Office of Information (COI) improved its efficiency by achieving a unit cost reduction of 3.6 per cent.

COI also achieved procurement savings from the use of its supplier framework agreements. Media procurement savings of £120 million were made in 2004–05 and reported in COI's annual report and accounts.

Additionally, COI extended its price benchmarking activities to capture savings from its other specialist services. The total savings identified amounted to £156 million, of which £120 million was recorded by the Office of Government Commerce against current efficiency savings targets.

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much of current efficiency savings targets for the Central Office for Information are to be cashable; and under what budget headings these cashable efficiency savings will be re-spent. [52816]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The Central Office of Information (COI) procures services from the private sector for its public sector clients.

The savings that it achieves (for example, a saving of 42.1 per cent. on media buying in 2004–05) are reflected in the charges made to clients.

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much of the agreed efficiency target for the Cabinet Office set out in the 2004 Spending Review is to be cashable; and under what budget headings these cashable efficiency savings will be re-spent. [52820]

Mr. Jim Murphy: All of the Cabinet Office's efficiency savings are cashable.

The savings made are redeployed as necessary to ensure that departmental priorities are adequately resourced.
 
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Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the target level of employment expressed as full-time equivalents is in the Central Office of Information by April 2008. [52838]

Mr. Jim Murphy: No target level of employment for April 2008 has been set for the Central Office of Information (COI).

As a common service organisation, concentrating expertise to avoid a wasteful duplication of specialists throughout Whitehall and taking advantage of centralised purchasing, and operating as a trading fund, COI has had, and has met, annual ministerial financial and efficiency targets.

COI's income is derived from the charges that it makes to its public sector clients and is subject to the demands that clients make upon it. It must manage its resources, including the number and cost of staff, to achieve its ministerial target of breakeven, taking into account the annual efficiency target also set for it (for 2005–06 the target is to reduce the unit cost of output by 2.5 per cent.).

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what total efficiency savings were achieved by the Cabinet Office in 2004–05; and whether these count towards the agreed efficiency target for the Cabinet Office set out in the 2004 spending review. [52870]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The Cabinet Office achieved 1.2 million in efficiency savings in 2004–05. These savings form part of our agreed efficiency target for 2007–08.

Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether any (a) employee of his Department, (b) person engaged by his Department as a consultant and (c) paid adviser to his Department is a member of the House of Lords; and if he will make a statement. [52898]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The information requested is not collected.

Strategy Unit

Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what strategic reviews are being undertaken by the Strategy Unit. [53813]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The Strategy Unit provides a range of strategy and policy advice to the Prime Minister on domestic policy issues. The work of the unit includes a mix of both confidential advice to Ministers and joint work with Departments which is published through a broad range of outputs including Green and White Papers. Current work includes: joint work with DfES on further education; joint work on the energy review with DTI and other Departments; on-going work on NHS reform with DH; support for ODPM on the local government White Paper due in the summer; and, with DWP, supporting the re-design of the child support system to be led by David Henshaw. The unit is also currently setting up a small team to address cross-cutting public service reform issues following the transfer of functions from the former Office of Public Service Reform.
 
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