Recommendations & Conclusions
32 items
2
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
It is unacceptable that the increase in missing data is reducing the utility and reliability of the Whole of Government Accounts. A total of 155 public bodies did not submit data this year, including two pension schemes with liabilities of £86.9 billion and £48.2 billion respectively. As we found in …
Government response. The government agrees, stating it has already included details on addressing missing data in the 2021-22 WGA governance statement and an expanded section in the performance report, and will continue to do so in future publications.
HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
We remain concerned that failures in the English local audit market are resulting in poorer quality data for Central Government, and are at risk of spreading to other sectors. The system of local government audit is close to breaking point, with over 630 accounts, some of which date as far …
Government response. The government agrees and states it has implemented the recommendation by writing to the Committee in early March 2024, detailing its senior-level engagement with DLUHC and FRC to address the local audit crisis.
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
HM Treasury does not have a clear plan for tracking ongoing COVID costs or evaluating COVID schemes in the longer term. It is essential that government learns from its response to the pandemic to ensure that lessons are applied and improve both future responses and business-as-usual service delivery. Yet HM …
Government response. The government agrees and commits to providing a list of relevant COVID scheme evaluations by July 2024 and to carry out an exercise to distil cross-cutting lessons, with an update to the Committee in April. It also highlights ongoing efforts …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
HM Treasury is not sufficiently proactive in identifying the data it requires for reporting thematic spend in the WGA, or communicating this with Departments. HM Treasury does not actively pursue the data it needs for the WGA beyond providing initial guidance on the format data should be provided in. The …
Government response. The government agrees, stating the 2021-22 WGA already includes updates on climate-related disclosures and inflation impacts, and it signposts to other relevant government publications. HM Treasury will remain mindful of useful disclosures while balancing complexity, noting WGA is part of …
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
HM Treasury is not making the most of the information available within the WGA. As the balance sheet of the nation and an economic snapshot of the economy, the WGA has the potential to be an important and useful document in explaining where taxpayers’ money is spent and where are …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation and has written to the Parliamentary Scrutiny Unit to explore providing training and seminars to MPs to improve WGA accessibility. It also highlighted that regional spending data is already available through OSCAR II publications …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
Based on the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) for the year ended 31 March 2021, we took evidence from HM Treasury (the Treasury) on 9th November 2023.1
Government response. The government outlines a specific forward recovery plan for WGA publication, committing to publish the 2021-22 WGA by March 2024, 2022-23 by November 2024, and 2023-24 by July 2025.
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
The Treasury published the 2020–21 WGA on 20 July 2023, 27 months after the end of the financial year. The Treasury did not provide the first complete draft of the accounts to the NAO until April 2023, nearly 14 months after the statutory deadline. The delay meant that the accounts …
Government response. The government agrees with the observation regarding publication delays and has set specific target dates to publish the 2021-22 WGA by March 2024, 2022-23 by November 2024, and 2023-24 by July 2025, outlining a forward recovery plan.
HM Treasury
8
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
As part of our inquiry into the 2019–20 Whole of Government Accounts, we concluded that the Treasury had taken too long to deliver the accounts, having been unrealistic with its timetable. We recommended that the Department reviewed the causes of its optimism bis, and revisited future timetables to ensure that …
Government response. The government agrees and will write to the Committee by end of March 2024 with an update on future WGA publication plans, including specific target dates for 2021-22 (March 2024), 2022-23 (November 2024), and 2023-24 (July 2025) based on a …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
We therefore asked the Treasury why publication of the 2020–21 WGA was so delayed. The Treasury told us that it had assumed that collecting the data needed for the WGA would take two to three months, that preparing the accounts would take five to six months, and that the C&AG’s …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's observation on WGA delays and outlines a forward recovery plan with specific publication dates: March 2024 for 2021-22, November 2024 for 2022-23, and July 2025 for 2023-24.
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
The WGA offers an important tool not only for managing public finances but for ensuring transparency and accountability.12 We received written evidence from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), which told us that the WGA is uniquely positioned to provide an overview of public sector spending, …
Government response. The government agrees with the importance of timely WGA publication and commits to publishing the 2021-22 WGA by March 2024, the 2022-23 WGA by November 2024, and the 2023-24 WGA by July 2025, outlining an ambitious forward recovery plan.
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
The Treasury included its recovery plan for the WGA as part of its update in December 2022, which included returning to the pre-Covid timetables of produce the WGA no more than 15-months after the end of the relevant financial year. We asked the Treasury whether it was confident that future …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation regarding the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) recovery timetable and provides specific publication plans for future WGAs: 2021-22 in March 2024, 2022-23 in November 2024, and 2023-24 in July 2025, with a target …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
Despite the multiple extensions to the data collection window, a large volume of data was nonetheless missing from the 2020–21 WGA when it was published. A total of 155 entities did not submit the data requested, including 137 entities which were included in the 2019–20 WGA. In total, data on …
Government response. The government agrees to proactively work with entities to ensure timely data collection, requiring draft data where necessary, and is running webinars and strengthening discipline in central government by linking WGA returns to Accounting Officer assessments.
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
When we examined the 2019–20 WGA, only 23 local bodies had failed to submit data. We found that this nonetheless impaired the reliability and quality of the data underlying the accounts, and consequently the validity of this data as a basis for insights, conclusion, and subsequent decisions.18 We received written …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's concerns regarding missing data impacting the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) and is taking proactive steps including requiring draft data submissions, engaging with stakeholders, running webinars, and strengthening central government discipline, targeting implementation by …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
We asked the Treasury about the extent of missing data and the impact of this on the ability of government to make decisions about public spending. HM Treasury recognised that any gap in data meant that there was uncertainty about the completeness of the information that it was using. It …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's concerns regarding the impact of missing data on WGA decision-making and is proactively working to improve data collection and completeness through requiring draft data, engaging stakeholders, running webinars, and strengthening central government discipline, with …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
HM Treasury also increased the use of unaudited data—data which has been audited only for presentation in the individual entity’s own accounts, rather than in OSCAR II format—in the 2020–21 WGA. We received written evidence from the ICAEW, which told us that the use of incompletely audited draft account data …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation regarding the use of unaudited data in the WGA and is committed to proactively working with entities to ensure timely data collection, including draft data submissions, to balance timeliness, quality, and assurance for …
HM Treasury
16
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
We asked the Treasury about the relationship it had with the public bodies which are required to submit data to the WGA, noting that the Treasury appeared to have operated largely as a passive receiver of data rather than actively seeking it out. The Treasury told us that while it …
Government response. The government agrees and commits to proactively working with entities to ensure timely data collection, requiring draft data, engaging senior stakeholders, running webinars, and strengthening central government discipline by linking WGA returns to Accounting Officer assessments.
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Acknowledged
When examining the 2019–20 WGA, we concluded that failures in the local audit market in England were resulting in poorer quality data for preparing the Whole of Government Accounts.26 We subsequently examined the timeliness of local auditor reporting in June 2023, and found that the backlog of audit opinions for …
Government response. The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, noting it wrote to the Committee in March 2024 to update on its senior-level engagement and discussions with stakeholders about options for clearing the local audit backlog.
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Acknowledged
We received written evidence from the University of Glasgow, which suggested two main points of failure in HM Treasury’s approach to the local audit crisis. Firstly, that the emerging problems in local audit were not identified or considered in terms of risk. It explained that this meant that a gap …
Government response. The government agrees and claims implementation, stating it updated the Committee in March 2024 on its senior-level engagement and detailed discussions with stakeholders regarding options for clearing the local audit backlog.
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Acknowledged
The Treasury told us that was putting in place a plan to try to eliminate the backlogs in local audit. It explained that this included: • establishing a final deadline for the production of the audited accounts for local government bodies, accepting that this may necessitate qualifications or even disclaimers …
Government response. The government agrees and claims implementation, stating it wrote to the Committee in March 2024 to provide an update on its ongoing senior-level engagement and detailed discussions with stakeholders regarding the local audit backlog.
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Acknowledged
We were concerned that the problems we see now in the local audit sector could spread and contaminate the health sector. We asked what more it could do to help to address the issues with the audit of local government. The Treasury recognised the importance of both auditor incentives and …
Government response. The government agrees and claims implementation, noting it updated the Committee in March 2024 on its senior-level engagement and detailed discussions with stakeholders regarding options for clearing the local audit backlog.
HM Treasury
21
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Acknowledged
We asked the Treasury what it could do to address the audit backlog in the local government sector more quickly. The Treasury stated that it expected the clearance of the local audit backlog to take several years. The C&AG noted that the work that the Treasury and the NAO were …
Government response. The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, noting it wrote to the Committee in March 2024 to update on its senior-level engagement and discussions with stakeholders about options for clearing the local audit backlog.
HM Treasury
22
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Prior to the 2020–21 WGA, public bodies with a budget in excess of £0.5 billion were required to undergo an NAO audit of the data they submitted for the WGA, in addition to the existing statutory audit of the annual report and accounts. In order to reduce the pressure on …
HM Treasury
23
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
The scale and nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s response are unprecedented in recent history, the full cost of which will not be known for many years. By the end of March 2021, the estimated lifetime cost of measures announced as part of the government’s response was £372 …
Government response. The government agrees to continue tracking COVID-related costs, stating it will set out further details after summer 2024, and commits to providing a compendium of relevant COVID scheme evaluations by July 2024 and an update in April on its exercise …
HM Treasury
24
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
The final cost and impact of some of the measures introduced in response to the pandemic will not be known for many years. We examined the Bounce Back Loans Scheme in December 2020 and April 2022, where we found that the Scheme’s impact could only be judged when borrowers reached …
Government response. The government agrees to continue tracking COVID-related costs, stating it will outline further details after summer 2024, and commits to providing a list of relevant COVID scheme evaluations by July 2024 and an April update on its exercise to distil …
HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
The NAO collated and published information on the government’s response to the pandemic in its COVID-19 cost tracker, the first iteration of which was published in September 2020.40 The cost tracker is now maintained by HM Treasury, and this expenditure was included in the 2020–21 WGA. The Treasury told us …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's implicit recommendation to ensure long-term traceability of COVID-related costs and commits to setting out further details on how it will continue tracking these costs after the current HMT Covid Cost Tracker is published in …
HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Deferred
Government’s response to the pandemic has exposed the taxpayer to substantial financial risks from fraud and error. Government is likely to better understand the incidence of fraudulent receipt of COVID-19 funds over the medium-term as fraud estimates crystallise.44 The Committee has discussed the issue in some detail in its examination …
Government response. The government agrees to continue tracking COVID-related costs, stating it will set out further details on its approach after the HMT Covid Cost Tracker is published in summer 2024, to determine how best to track live spending areas.
HM Treasury
27
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
We have repeatedly raised the need and importance of evaluating the impact of funding provided as part of the measures introduced by government during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Treasury told us that it had undertaken interim evaluations of the schemes that it was responsible for, and that its expectation was …
Government response. The government agrees with the importance of evaluating COVID schemes and commits to providing a list of relevant evaluations in a single compendium by July 2024 and an update in April on an exercise to distil lessons from pandemic business …
HM Treasury
28
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Acknowledged
Both of the professional bodies that responded to the Committee’s request for evidence addressed the collection and use of data. The ICAEW told us that a lot more could be done to explain how public spending has been used to meet policy objectives and the needs of the population, and …
Government response. The government acknowledges the committee's observations and commits to continuous WGA improvement, ensuring it reflects topical interest, and considering additional disclosures, while noting the 2021-22 WGA includes climate disclosures and signposts other relevant government publications.
HM Treasury
29
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Acknowledged
We asked the Treasury how it was reflecting the issue of Net Zero spending in the WGA, given its importance across government and therefore every public body that is included in the WGA. At present, the WGA deals primarily with listing spending commitments relating to Net Zero. HM Treasury committed …
Government response. The government acknowledges the importance of reflecting topical issues like Net Zero and states the 2021-22 WGA includes climate disclosures. It commits to continuous improvement and careful consideration of additional disclosures, while maintaining WGA as a record of past performance …
HM Treasury
30
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted in Part
In its written evidence to us, the ICAEW told us that the WGA was not yet filling its full potential as it was not being used as the multi-purpose tool that it should be. The Institute maintained that annual financial reporting is a multi-purpose tool that underpins effective financial management, …
Government response. The government agrees to improve WGA accessibility, commits to working with NAO and Parliament on seminars, and has written to the Parliamentary Scrutiny Unit to explore providing training sessions for MPs to better utilise the WGA.
HM Treasury
31
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
Given the potential for the WGA to be an important and really useful document about public spending, we asked the Treasury how it could help Parliamentarians and members of the public to understand the WGA and its implications. The ICAEW suggested that that it would be beneficial to hold events …
Government response. The government agrees to help Parliamentarians and the public understand the WGA by committing to improve accessibility, welcoming opportunities to hold seminars with NAO and Parliament, and having written to the Parliamentary Scrutiny Unit to explore providing training sessions for …
HM Treasury
32
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whole of Government Acco…
Accepted
We have previously expressed concern about the level of transparency in WGA reporting.56 The ICAEW suggested that it would have been helpful to have a more definitive estimate of fraud and waste incurred during 2020–21 financial year. The ICAEW would also have liked to see a corresponding summary of the …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's implicit recommendation for greater transparency regarding fraud and waste. It commits to compiling a compendium of COVID scheme evaluations and providing a list of relevant evaluations in July 2024, as well as an update …
HM Treasury