Recommendations & Conclusions
9 items
7
Conclusion
Twenty-Eighth Report - Efficiency in go…
Not Addressed
In the past, we have seen how departments failing to consider the full effects of their plans to improve efficiency have led to increased costs elsewhere in government, or have led to reductions in service quality which were costly to fix.15 For example, the National Audit Office found that the …
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In the past, we have seen how departments failing to consider the full effects of their plans to improve efficiency have led to increased costs elsewhere in government, or have led to reductions in service quality which were costly to fix.15 For example, the National Audit Office found that the Ministry of Justice’s reforms to civil legal aid unexpectedly increased the number of ‘litigants in person’, which raised the cost of processing cases and led to more legal problems down the line, with estimated costs of £3 million per year to HM Courts & Tribunals Service (an agency of the Ministry) as well as direct costs to the Ministry of approximately £400,000.16 The National Audit Office has also reported on how reforms implemented by HM Revenue & Customs assumed customers would switch to online services, failing to account for what the users of its personal tax affairs service valued, and thereby causing a deterioration in performance measures that saw customer waiting times triple.17
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Government response AI summary
The government response addresses a different PAC recommendation regarding considering impact on service users and tracking data, rather than the committee's conclusion #7 which describes past failures in efficiency programmes due to lack of full impact consideration.
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HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Twenty-Eighth Report - Efficiency in go…
Not Addressed
We asked the Treasury how it will ensure efficiency plans consider the risk of ‘cost shunting’, where money saved in one area increases costs in another area, and whether it would be asking departments to identify where knock-on impacts could occur. The Treasury said that the Spending Review process will …
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We asked the Treasury how it will ensure efficiency plans consider the risk of ‘cost shunting’, where money saved in one area increases costs in another area, and whether it would be asking departments to identify where knock-on impacts could occur. The Treasury said that the Spending Review process will encourage different parts of government to come together and will require departments to have good understanding of where investment will be required and where benefits will be seen.18 The Treasury also said that guidance helps establish potential impacts across government. It highlighted 11 Q 54 12 Q 54, Boardman Review of Government COVID-19 Procurement final report (publishing.service.gov.uk) 8 December 2020, page 2 13 Qq. 55, 57 14 Q 57 15 C&AG’s Report, para 11 & 15 16 C&AG’s Report, para 17 17 C&AG’s Report, para 14 18 Q 60 10 Efficiency in government the New Burdens Doctrine, which requires departments to set out any consequences of planned changes to local government in order to provide the resources needed, as an example.19 Additionally, we heard that the Treasury’s ‘Managing Public Money’ guidance sets out departmental Accounting Officers responsibility to constantly assess the impact of the delivery of savings, efficiencies and transformation programmes for the exchequer as a whole.20 We asked the Treasury whether these impact assessments should be made publicly available to the taxpayer, and whether it is confident that they are being done well enough. The Treasury agreed that they should be made visible to the taxpayer, but that it could not be certain impact assessments are done properly for every policy.21
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Government response AI summary
The government response addresses a different PAC recommendation regarding considering impact on service users and tracking data, rather than the committee's conclusion #8 which reports on questions asked and answers received about cost shunting.
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HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Twenty-Eighth Report - Efficiency in go…
Not Addressed
We questioned the Treasury and the Cabinet Office on how departments are expected to estimate the impact of efficiency savings on service user behaviour, and how this is incorporated into plans for efficiency.22 The Treasury told us that it agreed with the National Audit Office’s recommendations that it should collectively …
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We questioned the Treasury and the Cabinet Office on how departments are expected to estimate the impact of efficiency savings on service user behaviour, and how this is incorporated into plans for efficiency.22 The Treasury told us that it agreed with the National Audit Office’s recommendations that it should collectively assess the effects, behavioural impact and knock-on consequences of reforms, but stressed that these judgments can be inherently difficult. The Treasury expects departments to provide an initial assessment of the effects on service users, whilst their assessment of the likely impact of efficiency programmes are subject to further stress testing, including by experts in data, major projects or property. The Treasury also said it plans to learn from similar attempts at reforms in the past, such as the automation of services. The Treasury said it was hopeful the ‘Public Value Framework’, recommended by the Barber review, will improve departments’ ability to assess the initial impacts of reforms.23 Optimism bias
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Government response AI summary
The government response addresses a different PAC recommendation about considering impact on service users and tracking data, rather than the committee's conclusion #9 which reports on an exchange about estimating impacts of efficiency savings on user behaviour.
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HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Twenty-Eighth Report - Efficiency in go…
Not Addressed
We asked the Treasury and Cabinet Office what is being done to minimise optimism bias, particularly how they can ensure efficiency plans are subject to adequate challenge and properly evidenced.26 The Cabinet Office told us that government functions will help scrutinise efficiency plans, with experienced professionals able to assess project …
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We asked the Treasury and Cabinet Office what is being done to minimise optimism bias, particularly how they can ensure efficiency plans are subject to adequate challenge and properly evidenced.26 The Cabinet Office told us that government functions will help scrutinise efficiency plans, with experienced professionals able to assess project progress and provide challenge. Within the Major Projects Review Group, for example, the Treasury and Cabinet Office work weekly alongside the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) and functional experts to assess projects, which can help identify and minimise optimism bias as the business case develops.27 More generally, it told us the culture of accountability 19 Q 60 20 Q 61 21 Qq. 62–64 22 Q 65 23 Q65; C&AG’s Report, para 12 24 C&AG’s Report, para 18 25 Committee of Public Accounts, Tenth report of Session 2019–21, Defence capability and Equipment Plan, HC 247, conclusion 6; C&AG’s report, para 25, Figure 5. 26 Q 66 27 Q 66 Efficiency in government 11 within government plays an important role in challenging optimism bias as it incentivises programme leaders to be honest about whether or not they think they can deliver with the resources planned. The Cabinet Office said continuing to test plans for their realism following their implementation is also important, as is learning from past experience.28
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Government response AI summary
The government response addresses a different PAC recommendation about ensuring efficiency plans are adequately challenged and realistic, rather than the committee's conclusion #11 which reports on an exchange about minimising optimism bias.
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HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Twenty-Eighth Report - Efficiency in go…
We asked the Cabinet Office whether it had pushed back on any plans for reducing the size of government estates because they were over-optimistic. The Cabinet Office explained that the government’s plan to shrink the London property estate has not been progressing as quickly as it had wished due to …
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We asked the Cabinet Office whether it had pushed back on any plans for reducing the size of government estates because they were over-optimistic. The Cabinet Office explained that the government’s plan to shrink the London property estate has not been progressing as quickly as it had wished due to expansion of departments in response to Brexit and COVID-19.31 The Cabinet Office said there are big opportunities for savings in London real estate but could not say to what extent these would be realised, as there is still uncertainty around the numbers of staff who may work from home or in offices across the United Kingdom.32 28 Q 67 29 Q 68 30 Q 69 31 Q 78 32 Q 80 12 Efficiency in government 2 Implementing efficiency plans Skills and capability
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HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Twenty-Eighth Report - Efficiency in go…
Not Addressed
We questioned the Cabinet Office on how it can ensure capability is in place across government to deliver departments’ efficiency programmes. The Cabinet Office told us that processes such as the Outcome Delivery Plans, where outcomes are matched against resources, helps them identify where skill shortages are present.35 The Cabinet …
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We questioned the Cabinet Office on how it can ensure capability is in place across government to deliver departments’ efficiency programmes. The Cabinet Office told us that processes such as the Outcome Delivery Plans, where outcomes are matched against resources, helps them identify where skill shortages are present.35 The Cabinet Office explained how its Declaration on Government Reform shows its commitment to build the capabilities within government; how it is particularly keen to increase the capability and capacity of digital and major project development skills within functions; and that it will continue investing in these areas.36 When we asked the Cabinet Office whether efficiency projects are often turned down as a result of insufficient capacity, it responded that it is more a case of conditional approvals—where projects move ahead if they show they can bring in the right staff or skills on time.
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Government response AI summary
The government response addresses a different PAC recommendation regarding HM Treasury and Cabinet Office working to understand and build capability, and report on progress of the Declaration on Government Reform, rather than the committee's conclusion #15 which reports on an exchange about capability delivery.
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HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Twenty-Eighth Report - Efficiency in go…
Not Addressed
The Treasury described how some of the processes used to scrutinise government plans, such as benchmarking and ongoing project reviews, enable the Treasury and Cabinet Office to monitor the progress of efficiency programmes over time.46 The Cabinet Office told us that quarterly reviews are held between the Cabinet Office, the …
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The Treasury described how some of the processes used to scrutinise government plans, such as benchmarking and ongoing project reviews, enable the Treasury and Cabinet Office to monitor the progress of efficiency programmes over time.46 The Cabinet Office told us that quarterly reviews are held between the Cabinet Office, the Treasury and departments, to hold them to account for progress on programmes, and to look at what new issues they may have encountered.47 The Cabinet Office assured us that benefits realisation will be a strong theme in the Spending Review, and that departments will need to provide clear metrics to track the benefits of their plans, rather than just focusing on expected costs.48 The Cabinet Office told us that its Evaluation Task Force, which is made up of analysts, finance and digital experts, will help assess the performance of projects and scrutinise the results.49 The Cabinet Office intends the taskforce to be able to evaluate programmes more quickly, share learnings and provide quick correction, with its findings made public.50
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Government response AI summary
The government response addresses a different PAC recommendation about using Outcome Delivery Plans to track costs and benefits of efficiency plans, rather than the committee's conclusion #19 which describes existing scrutiny processes and intentions regarding benefit tracking.
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HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Twenty-Eighth Report - Efficiency in go…
Not Addressed
We asked the Cabinet Office how it is going to deal with the constraints of inconsistent and poor-quality data and legacy systems in tracking the progress of efficiency plans, as described in the National Audit Office’s report.51 The Cabinet Office told us that these are huge issues for government, which …
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We asked the Cabinet Office how it is going to deal with the constraints of inconsistent and poor-quality data and legacy systems in tracking the progress of efficiency plans, as described in the National Audit Office’s report.51 The Cabinet Office told us that these are huge issues for government, which will probably require multiple Spending Review cycles to properly address, and that it is making big investments in these areas as part of the upcoming Spending Review. For example, the Cabinet Office told us it is committing £600 million to upgrading legacy IT systems to bring data into modern digital exchangeable formats. The Cabinet Office also said that it will be investing in making it easier to share 41 Q 106 42 C&AG’s report, para 28 43 Qq. 60, 77, 87, 89 44 Q 77, 87, 89 45 Letter from HM Treasury to Chair 28 September 2021 46 Qq. 43, 77 47 Qq. 77, 87 48 Q 77 49 Q 90 50 Qq. 89, 91 51 Q 89; C&AG’s report, para 29 14 Efficiency in government data between departments and are using the Declaration on Government Reform to encourage departments to have the confidence to be innovative with new technologies and data, which it says will be critical to achieving improvements in public services at a lower cost.52 Embedding efficiency
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Government response AI summary
The government's response addresses forecasting expenditure and Accounting Officer processes, which does not engage with the committee's conclusion about the Cabinet Office's plans for data quality, legacy IT systems, and data sharing.
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HM Treasury
21
Conclusion
Twenty-Eighth Report - Efficiency in go…
Not Addressed
The report by the National Audit Office emphasises the need for efficiency to remain a priority on an ongoing basis, rather than only being taken seriously at major fiscal events such as Spending Reviews.53 The report describes the need for system incentives to be in place, with leadership behaviour that …
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The report by the National Audit Office emphasises the need for efficiency to remain a priority on an ongoing basis, rather than only being taken seriously at major fiscal events such as Spending Reviews.53 The report describes the need for system incentives to be in place, with leadership behaviour that encourages continuous improvement, and that continuous improvement should involve all levels of an organisation.54 We asked the Treasury and Cabinet Office how they will encourage government to embed efficiency as an ongoing process, and encourage departments to use continuous improvement.
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Government response AI summary
The government response addresses a different PAC recommendation about HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office working jointly to instil a culture of continuous improvement, rather than the committee's conclusion #21 which reports on the need for ongoing efficiency and asks how this will be encouraged.
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HM Treasury