In 2003 the Government asked Sir Peter Gershon to undertake a review of the efficiency of all public sector organisations to identify the scope for efficiency savings in these bodies. The aim of this review was to encourage public bodies to exploit opportunities for efficiency savings and so release resources for front-line activities. One of the outcomes of the "Gershon Review", as it became known, was a target for all public sector organisations to deliver at least 2.5 per cent efficiency savings each year until 2007-08.
Research Councils agreed to collectively make efficiency gains of £170 million per year by 2007-08. This money was redistributed to fund research and training and strengthen operational effectiveness.
It is important that each of the Research Councils continue to deliver their Public Service Agreement (PSA) objectives - improving the relative international performance of the UK research base and increasing overall innovation - and that an efficiency culture of continuous improvement is visible in each of the Research Councils.
The Research Councils set up a joint project to deliver the £170 million efficiency gains – the RCUK Efficiency Delivery Project. Research Councils met this efficiency target together by:
- reducing the proportion of money that each Council spends on administration
- demonstrating effective reprioritisation of programme spend
- increasing the efficiency of Research Councils Institutes
- growing the level of co-funding of research and postgraduate training with business, charities and other sponsors
Details of the methodology used to evaluate these efficiency gains are set out in the document "Research Councils UK Efficiency Plans: Background and measurement methodology 
".
The RCUK Efficiency Delivery Project is a component of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform’s efficiency project.
