Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Cabinet Office functional savings

Status: Closed Opened: 13 Dec 2023 Closed: 3 May 2024 18 recommendations 10 conclusions 1 report

Government established cross-cutting central functional teams, or ‘functions’, in 2013. These seek to provide expert skills across Government while increasing efficiency. In July 2023, the Cabinet Office reported that the functions had achieved £4.4bn of financial savings. A National Audit Office (NAO) report found that the Cabinet Office has not consistently reported the efficiency savings …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Seventeenth Report - Cabinet Office functional savings HC 423 1 Mar 2024 28 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

1 item
5 Conclusion Seventeenth Report - Cabinet Office fun… Acknowledged

Incorporate best practice and guidance into efficiency exercise, reporting on double-counting assurance

Cabinet Office and HM Treasury have not finalised how they will manage the risks of double-counting and cost-shunting. Avoiding adverse effects is a key element of good practice in making and reporting efficiency savings. HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office expect there will be natural convergence between the separate efficiency …

Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation and states that the implementation of the Government Efficiency Framework (GEF) provides additional checks and balances against cost-shunting and double-counting. However, it does not explicitly commit to reporting back on received assurance from departments …
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
10 Jan 2024 Cat Little · Cabinet Office, Richard Hornby · Cabinet Office, Sir Alex Chisholm · Cabinet Office View ↗

Correspondence

1 letter
DateDirectionTitle
5 Feb 2024 Correspondence from Sir Alex Chisholm, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer an…