To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

(1) what efficiency savings (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies it sponsors have made in each of the last five years;

(2) what progress his Department has made in implementing the recommendations of the Gershon efficiency review; and if he will make a statement.

DCMS has three targets for implementing the Gershon efficiency review: deliver £262 million efficiency savings by 2007-08, reduce headcount by 27 posts by 2008 and relocate 600 posts in its NDPBs outside London and the South East by 2010.

2007-08 DCMS internal figures are final, NDPB figures are provisional and local authority figures will not become available until June 2008. We forecast that 2007-08 local authority gains will be £154.5 million and that we will therefore exceed our target. Final efficiency savings figures will be reported in the 2008 DCMS autumn performance report. Latest headcount figures show a reduction of 76 posts at 31 March 2008. The Department was carrying 35 vacancies at 31 March 2008 and even excluding these posts we have still exceeded our target. Latest relocation figures show the relocation of 586 posts at 31 March 2008. We have identified over 900 posts in total to relocate over the period and are therefore on course to exceed our target.