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22 Mar 2006 : Column 402W—continued
Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much is expected to be saved as a result of meeting the civil service work force reductions targets for his Office set out in the 2004 Spending Review; and whether these savings count towards the agreed efficiency target for his Office set out in the review. [52794]
Mr. Woolas: Savings from work force reductions will make a major contribution to achieving the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's target of £25 million efficiency savings in administration. As stated in the ODPM (Central) Efficiency Technical Note, published in December 2005, these efficiency gains will be measured by comparing current year administration spend against the 2004–05 baseline.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much of the agreed efficiency target for his 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. [52833]
Mr. Woolas: The Spending Review 2004 set the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister a target to achieve at least £620 million in annual efficiency gains by 2007–08. At least two thirds of these must be cash-releasing. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's proposed gains by workstream, and the proportion that are cashable are set out in the following table, as stated in our Efficiency Technical Note in December 2005:
Funds will be reinvested in the programme areas from which they are saved.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what is the target level of employment expressed as full-time equivalents in his Department by April 2008, in order to meet his Department's civil service work force reductions target set out in the 2004 Spending Review; [52851]
(2) what baseline figures he is using for assessing progress on his Department's targets to achieve a total reduction of (a) 400 posts and (b) at least 250 headquarters and Government office civil service posts; what progress has been made towards these targets to date; and what the total efficiency savings achieved to date are for these targets. [52936]
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Mr. Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently using a June 2004 baseline for staff numbers, measured in full-time equivalents, against which our targets and progress are measured. The baseline comprises:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| ODPM (central) | 2,431 |
| Government offices for the regions | 968 |
| Planning Inspectorate and other Executive agencies | 1,054 |
| Non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) | 3,773 |
| Total | 8,226 |
We use full-time equivalents (not headcount or posts) for setting targets and monitoring progress in order to avoid creating a bias against part-time employment.
In 2004–05 ODPM (central) and the Government office for the regions delivered a reduction of 47 full-time equivalents against a target of 250 by the end of 2007–08. The Executive agencies and NDPBs delivered a reduction over that period of 43 full-time equivalents, giving a total reduction of 90 against a target of 400 by the same date. Further reductions will be reported annually as part of our regular progress reports to OGC. During 2005–06 ODPM (central) has agreed voluntary early severance for a further 82 full-time equivalents which will make a significant contribution to achieving the targets.
ODPM's Efficiency Technical Note sets out how reductions are measured.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what baseline figures he is using for assessing progress on his Department's targets to (a) improve social housing procurement methods, (b) realise efficiencies in the registered social landlord sector on capital works, management and maintenance and commodities, (c) deliver efficiency gains in regional development agencies and (d) continue the modernisation of the fire and rescue service; what progress has been made towards these targets to date; and what the total efficiency savings achieved to date are for these targets. [52922]
Mr. Woolas: The overall target for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minster central efficiency programme is at least £620 million by the end of 2007–08. The programme includes efficiency gains by registered social landlords (RSLs) (but not by local housing authorities). The 2004–05 baselines against which efficiency gains are being measured, savings to date and targets for the relevant heading are as follows:
| Baseline | Savings to date | Target | |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSL Capital Works | 800 | 64.4 | 60 |
| RSL Management and Maintenance | 1500 | 74.6 | 80 |
| RSL Commodities | 300 | 11.5 | 55 |
| Regional Development Agencies | 1552 | 28 | 120 |
| Fire Modernisation | 2040 | 38 | 105 |
The savings have not yet been fully validated.
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Efficiency gains from RSL social housing procurement are not measured separately but are included as appropriate under capital works, management and maintenance, and commodities.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what interim targets he has set for achieving (a) the agreed efficiency target for his Department and (b) the civil service work force reductions targets for (i) gross reductions in posts, (ii) net reductions in posts and (iii) relocations for his Department, as set out in the 2004 Spending Review; what the baseline figures are against which these interim targets are assessed; on what dates they will take effect; and by what dates these interim targets are intended to be met. [52945]
Mr. Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's efficiency target is to achieve at least £620 million savings by March 2008. As stated in our Efficiency Technical Note we have plans to achieve savings of £740 million by 2007–08. However, the 2004 Spending Review did not set interim targets.
Our target for reduction in civil service posts in ODPM central and the Government offices for the regions is 250 by March 2008. This is currently measured against a June 2004 baseline of 2,431 posts in ODPM central and 968 in Government offices. We do not distinguish between net and gross figures in our reduction target.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has a target to relocate 240 posts out of London headquarters by 2010. There is an interim target to relocate at least 216 posts outside of London and the South East by March 2008.
Sun-bed Tanning
Mrs. James: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what provision is made by local authority-owned leisure centres for complaints from users of their sun-bed tanning equipment relating to (a) accidents and (b) adverse incidents involving that equipment. [57425]
Mr. Woolas: Procedures to handle complaints from users of facilities at local authority-owned leisure centres are matters for local authorities. As regards complaints leading to claims for compensation, the Department for Constitutional Affairs is coordinating a cross Government programme of work to prevent a compensation culture from developing, and to improve the system for valid claims. Part of this work involves promoting appropriate and proportionate risk management; encouraging defendants such as local authorities to resist bad claims; and making the system more timely, proportionate and cost-effective for valid claims. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, along with other central departments, is feeding into this work.
Terrorism
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was made available to local authorities in (a) Manchester, (b) Birmingham, (c) Leeds, (d) Liverpool, (e) Edinburgh, (f) Glasgow, (g) Cardiff and (h) other major cities and towns in the UK (i) to prevent and (ii) to deal with a terrorist incident in 2005–06. [59540]
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Mr. Jim Murphy: I have been asked to reply.
In 2005–06 the Government more than doubled its contribution to the cost of local authorities' civil protection activities in England and Wales to £40.7 million. This increase significantly enhanced the capacity of local authorities to deal with the effects of a wide range of emergencies, including terrorism.
The bulk of the £40.7 million was added to formula grant (Revenue Support Grant and national non-domestic rates) which is distributed according to a broadly population-based formula. This is an unhypothecated grant and it is not therefore possible to provide an amount given to each authority for a particular function.
As a result of the devolution settlement, the National Assembly for Wales is responsible for the payment of funding to local authorities in Wales. £2.263 million was therefore transferred to the National Assembly for Wales for distribution to the Welsh unitary authorities. This is currently being delivered by a hypothecated grant mechanism.
The level of civil protection funding for Scottish local authorities and the way it is distributed is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive.
Local authorities also undertake a wide range of mainstream activities which contribute to the prevention of terrorism (eg CCTV installation, community cohesion). Disaggregated figures for these activities in each of the authorities are not available.
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