Mark Todd (South Derbyshire, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to implement the efficiency recommendations of the Operational Efficiency programme relating to his Department; and what training is available to (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department in respect of the delivery of value for money savings.

Dan Norris (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Wansdyke, Labour)

DEFRA has adopted a three stage approach to achieving costs reduction savings under the Operational Efficiency Programme entailing benchmarking of our corporate services, functional reviews informed by the benchmarking results by April 2009 and implementation of review findings. Work under the programme is dovetailing and building upon more general action which the Department has been taking to achieve greater value for money (VFM). For example, our Workplace Support Initiative which will bring much of the DEFRA estate into a single Facilities Management contract saving £6 million per year in 2010-11 compared to the preceding year, rising to £11 million per year by 2013-14. The Department has a wide range of learning and development opportunities many of which underpin the drive for VFM.