Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the HM Treasury press release, Chancellor announces £4.5 billion of measures to bring down debt, published on 4 June 2015, what efficiency savings her Department plans to make to achieve reductions of £70 million in its budget.

Across government, the savings for 2015-16 announced on 4 June 2015 are being achieved through further efficiency savings, tighter control of budgets to drive underspends in year, and driving through asset sales.

There are three areas where DECC will make savings:

• £10M will be realised by driving out underspends from existing contracts, for example because inflation is now lower than when costs were forecast.
• £20M will be found through underspends in the Department’s arms-length bodies (ALBs).
• £40M will be saved from our programme of energy-efficiency subsidy while we consider the right long-term framework for the home-energy-efficiency market.

The government is getting on with the job of repairing the public finances, and to run a surplus in this Parliament. This will create the best conditions for sustainable growth.