Annual Efficiency Statements - 2007-08 Forward Look

As part of the local government efficiency agenda, all councils in England are required to submit Annual Efficiency Statements to Communities and Local Government. These submissions are formed of two parts; the Forward and Backward look statements.

The Forward Look is for authorities to set out their general strategy for making efficiency gains; an estimate of the value of new gains expected to be achieved during the forthcoming financial year; and the key actions planned to realise them.
The Backward Look is for authorities to set out the value of ongoing gains sustained from previous years; the value of new efficiency gains actually achieved during that financial year; and the actions that were undertaken to release them.

The documents that are published here are the 2007-08 Forward Look statements, and a spreadsheet that sets out the new efficiency gains expected in each sector by each local authority. The published items are unedited by the Department and the results are not subject to review or endorsement by the Department.

The statements set out an action plan and an expectation of the level of efficiency gains to be attained; it is not a record of achievement. The value of efficiency gains made and sustained from previous financial years are not included in these statements or the accompanying spreadsheet (these are reported in the 2006-07 Backward Look statement).

The spreadsheet also shows the nominal annual efficiency target for each council, which is 2.5 per cent of their 2004-05 baseline expenditure (1.25 per cent for cashable gains). By the end of 2007-08 councils will be expected to have achieved gains equivalent to at least 7.5 per cent of their baseline expenditure (3.75 per cent for cashable gains), and this will be compared with the cumulative total of gains achieved since 2004-05. Consequently, the forecasts for new gains in 2007-08 cannot be directly compared against the nominal targets, because they represent only a partial picture of performance.