Recommendations & Conclusions
39 items
2
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
Within the Overturned Convictions Scheme, there are a number of complex cases where claims have not yet been submitted, meaning ongoing delays in compensation for these individuals. The Overturned Convictions Scheme was set up to compensate those who had their convictions overturned by the courts. The scheme is separate from …
Government response. The government confirmed the Overturned Convictions scheme claims transferred to the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS), which will operate with case management processes and an independent panel including Dentons and Sir Gary Hickinbottom. Further guidance on these roles and the …
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The Department’s efforts to recover fraud losses incurred through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme have been largely unsuccessful, with only a small fraction of losses recovered to date, for which the Department is unable to confirm the value. The Department has estimated it will incur a total loss of at …
Government response. The government agrees and commits to writing to the Committee in one year to provide obtainable information on the Insolvency Service's performance in recovering fraud losses from the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. It did not address the request for NATIS …
HM Treasury
5
Recommendation
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The restructuring process which created the Department left it insufficiently resourced to deliver its 2023–24 Annual Report and Accounts on a timely basis and unable to establish appropriate controls and processes across the 2023–24 financial year. The Department inherited limited finance staff from the former Department for Business, Energy and …
Government response. The government agrees to provide a written update if planned dates for laying accounts are missed, and confirms that the Annual Report and Accounts production is currently on target for September publication.
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
On the basis of its Annual Report and Accounts 2023–24, we took evidence from the Department for Business and Trade (the Department).1 We focused on the Horizon Compensation Schemes, Bounce Back Loan Scheme, and the preparation of its the Annual Report and Accounts.
Government response. The government commits to finalising letters for remaining Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) claimants by September 2025, reviewing the recommended HSS closure date and responding by October 10, 2025. It also plans to write to all individuals eligible for the Horizon …
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
For the 2023–24 external audit, the Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG) recorded a qualified opinion on the Department’s accounts due to the Department being unable to obtain sufficient appropriate evidence that the value of provisions for the HSS and HCRS were free from material misstatement. This was due to the …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's concern regarding the qualified audit opinion due to Horizon scheme provisions. It commits to finalizing HSS letters by September 2025, reviewing the HSS closure date recommendation by October 2025, and writing to unregistered HCRS …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
For the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS), the main uncertainty when calculating the overall settlement provision is regarding the volume of claimants. The Department told us that in order to establish the number of eligible claimants, the Post Office is writing to postmasters to make them aware of the Scheme and …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observations on the HSS and commits to finalizing letters to remaining eligible claimants by September 2025. It will also review the proposed HSS closure date by October 2025 and write to all unregistered HCRS …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
For the HCRS, the Department told us that the uncertainty within this scheme relates to the value per claim, rather than the number of claimants. The Department told us that justice authorities (Ministry of Justice, Justice Directorate Scotland and the Department of Justice Northern Ireland) had issued letters to the …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's implicit recommendation, setting an Autumn 2025 target. It will finalise letters for the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) by September 2025, review a recommended HSS closure date, and write to eligible HCRS individuals by end …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The Department told us that it is confident the level of uncertainty over the number of potential claimants in HSS will reduce over the 2025–26 financial year. The uncertainty over the number of potential claimants within the HSS was a key reason for the C&AG’s qualification of the Annual Report …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's implicit recommendation for reducing uncertainty in the redress schemes, setting an Autumn 2025 target. It will finalise letters for the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) by September 2025, review a recommended HSS closure date, and …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
Following feedback from scheme applicants and the Business and Trade Select Committee in its report published January 2025, the Department has agreed to take on direct responsibility for management of the OC Scheme from 3 June 2025.23 There is a 3-month transition period underway to ensure continuity of service and …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's implicit recommendation, confirming that from June 3rd, 2025, the Overturned Convictions (OC) scheme claims transferred to the Department-delivered Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS). The HCRS will apply the same principles, and further guidance on …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
As part of the scheme administration, the Department told us it has employed Sir Gary Hickinbottom, a former judge, to hold case management hearings and work through areas of disagreement between claimants and the Post Office or Department. Sir Gary Hickinbottom has been praised by the Business and Trade Committee …
Government response. The government confirms Sir Gary Hickinbottom's continued role in case management within the new Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) and commits to publishing further guidance on his role and the Alternative Dispute Resolution process by the end of Summer 2025.
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
According to the Department, there are 111 individuals eligible for financial redress through the OC scheme. As at 31 March 2025, 86 had submitted full and final claims, of which 69 had been paid, 1 had accepted an offer and was awaiting payment and a further 8 had received offers. …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's report on the OC scheme's progress, confirming the OC scheme closed on June 3, 2025, with claims transferred to the HCRS under the same principles. It commits to publishing further guidance on the HCRS …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The Department told us it is possible that claims may not be received for the remaining 25 eligible individuals until into 2026 due to the complexity of their cases. The Department hopes however that these 25 individuals will feel more comfortable in engaging in the process once it is no …
Government response. The government has transferred claims to the new Department-delivered Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) from June 2025, outlining enhanced case management processes and committing to publish further guidance by the end of Summer 2025 to address complex cases and improve …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The Post Office is wholly owned by the Department, although the Department does not have responsibility for the day-to-day running of the Post Office. The Department supports the Post Office through the funding of all Horizon redress compensation schemes. However, this funding alone is insufficient to guarantee the financial stability …
Government response. The government commits to writing to the Committee in Autumn 2025, following the publication of the Treasury Minute, concerning the Post Office's financial stability and the ongoing reliance on the annual Letter of Support.
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The Department told us that it has confidence in the Post Office’s short- term liquidity, through the assurance provided by UKGI and that there is a longer-term question regarding the financial viability of the Post Office. The Department told us that it is looking at the policy objectives, the most …
Government response. The government commits to writing to the Committee in Autumn 2025, following the publication of the Treasury Minute, implying an update on the Post Office's long-term financial viability which the Department is actively addressing.
HM Treasury
21
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The Department did not consider the Letter of Support to require separate notification to Parliament in line with the requirements of Managing Public Money on the basis of the following:35 • Issuing the Letter of Support is not outside of the Department’s normal course of business • The Department does …
Government response. The government commits to providing a formal notification to the Committee when the Letter of Comfort to the Post Office Limited is issued, with a target implementation date of Winter 2025.
HM Treasury
22
Recommendation
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
Managing Public Money explains that whilst departments may make commitments to future expenditure without explicit parliamentary authority, Parliament should be notified of the existence of these commitments on a 31 DBT ARA 2023–24, p 154 32 Q 21 33 Correspondence from Department for Business and Trade, 2 May 2025 34 …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation and commits to formally notifying the Committee when the Letter of Comfort to the Post Office Limited is issued, with a target implementation date of Winter 2025.
HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
As at 31 March 2024, there remained 1.03 million loans outstanding, to a value of £17.8 billion.41 The Department estimates that total losses to the taxpayer due to fraud in the scheme will be at least £1.9 billion over its lifetime.42 For the purposes of fraud investigation, the Department grouped …
Government response. The government commits to providing key findings from the National Investigation Service (NATIS) audit, including recovery values, by August 2026 and information on the Insolvency Service's performance in recovering fraud losses by July 2026, addressing concerns about BBLS fraud investigations.
HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The Department has estimated that total losses due to fraud on the BBLS will be at least £1.9 billion. This figure is the sum of losses on defaulted loans that lenders have reported as suspected fraud, and future losses estimated by the Department by applying its suspected fraud loss rate …
Government response. The government acknowledges the estimated £1.9 billion BBLS fraud losses and commits to providing key findings from the National Investigation Service (NATIS) audit by August 2026, along with information on the Insolvency Service's performance in recovering fraud losses by July …
HM Treasury
29
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The Department explained that it also outsources the most complex cases to a provider, to follow up on the most extreme and serious cases of fraud. These cases are complex and detailed, and take a while to appear as a recovery.47 The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts states that its …
Government response. The government commits to providing key findings from the National Investigation Service (NATIS) audit, including the value of recoveries, to the Committee by August 2026, and will provide an update on the Insolvency Service's performance in recovering fraud losses by …
HM Treasury
33
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
We wrote to the Department, following our evidence session on 7 April, to obtain greater clarity on the value of losses to fraud that have since been recovered. We specifically requested the value of losses recovered which were incurred due to suspected fraud within the BBLS. We requested that this …
Government response. The government acknowledges the Department's inability to confirm BBLS fraud recovery values and commits to providing key findings from the National Investigation Service (NATIS) audit by August 2026, and information on the Insolvency Service's performance in recovering fraud losses by …
HM Treasury
34
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
On 15 May 2025 the Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports issued a statement announcing that the Department will not renew the contract with NATIS, instead the Insolvency Service will take over the remaining casework.54 In the accompanying press release the Department confirmed that the decision to appoint NATIS …
Government response. The government agrees with the implicit recommendations. It commits to providing key findings from the NATIS audit by August 2026 and information on the Insolvency Service's performance in recovering fraud losses by July 2026.
HM Treasury
40
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The Department said that the increased complexity of its accounts when compared to those of DIT was driven by balances moving across from BEIS.64 These balances had to be accounted for to a much higher level of precision due to the accounting concept of ‘materiality’. The materiality level set in …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's observation and confirms that Annual Report and Accounts production and audit are progressing well, on target for a September 2025 publication, and will inform the Committee if the deadline is at risk.
HM Treasury
42
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The third reason given by the Department for delays to the completion of its 2023–24 accounts was the Post Office provisions. This was due to: the complexity in estimating the provision liabilities; the effort required to justify those estimates; and the need to ensure the alignment of estimates with the …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's conclusion regarding the complexities of Post Office provisions delaying accounts. It commits to finalizing HSS letters by September 2025, reviewing the HSS closure date recommendation by October 2025, and writing to unregistered HCRS individuals …
HM Treasury
43
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The Department stated that it has worked to bring forward the delivery of its 2024–25 accounts to September 2025, a four-month improvement in timeliness. To do so, the Department said it had performed a significant lessons-learned exercise alongside the National Audit Office and increased the capability and capacity of its …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's observation, stating that the Annual Report and Accounts production is on target for a September 2025 publication and commits to informing the Committee should this deadline be missed.
HM Treasury
44
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
Alongside producing a more complex set of accounts in a timely manner, the Machinery of Government change meant that the Department had to develop a new framework of governance, risk management and control for an organisation comprised of teams from the former DIT and BEIS. There was a further need …
Government response. The government acknowledges the challenges of developing new governance and control frameworks due to Machinery of Government changes, stating that Annual Report and Accounts production and audit are on target for September 2025 and committing to inform the Committee if …
HM Treasury
46
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The GIAA highlighted six themes which required action to strengthen controls: Machinery of Government Change; Capacity and Capability; Governance; Strategy and Business Planning; First Line of Defence; and 75 HM Treasury, DAO 03/24 Accounts Directions 2024–25, January 2025 76 Q 35 77 National Audit Office, Working together to achieve high …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's implicit recommendation to address themes requiring action to strengthen controls, setting a September 2025 target date for the Annual Report and Accounts publication, which it states is progressing well and on target.
HM Treasury
47
Conclusion
34th Report - Department for Business a…
Accepted
The Department said that the need to build up teams due to the organisational changes was the key factor in this opinion being received and that appropriate governance structures were not in place for the full financial year. The Department considers that by the end of financial year 2023–24 the …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's observation and states that the Annual Report and Accounts production and audit are progressing well and are on target for a September 2025 publication, with a commitment to notify if the deadline is missed.
HM Treasury
2
Conclusion
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s prior…
Accepted
The Department is not working effectively enough with other departments to support industry and achieve the greatest impact. The Department views the economy through the lens of 10 economic sectors and 41 sub-sectors. While the Department is responsible for supporting businesses in general, it is not itself responsible for all …
Government response. The government states it developed the Industrial Strategy in partnership with other departments, established governance and boards for coordination, and implemented a new digital Strategic Company Insight Tool (SCIT) to improve cross-government intelligence sharing, with usage currently expanding.
HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s prior…
Accepted
The Department lacks a comprehensive understanding of its support for industry, including how much it spends per sector and the types of support it offers. The Department supports industry through a range of interventions, which vary in form and scale. Some interventions support individual sectors while others are designed to …
Government response. The government states it will collaborate across government to enhance tracking and reporting of support to Industrial Strategy sectors, refine sector definitions, and conduct strategic analysis to assess policy effectiveness and economic trends.
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s prior…
Accepted
It is not clear how the Department balances multiple government objectives, such as growth and net zero, when making decisions about how to support industry. Government needs to consider a wide range of metrics when making investment decisions including employment, net zero, and economic growth. Pursuit of these metrics requires …
Government response. The government will provide greater transparency by using new 'place-based business cases' and supplementary guidance to assess projects and private sector contributions. It will also work with various bodies to maximise the impact of business-facing funds, with an approach already …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s prior…
Accepted
There is a risk that the Department is not set up internally to support the aims of the forthcoming Industrial Strategy and to respond to ongoing issues facing UK businesses. The composition of sector teams in the Department’s Business Group varies by size and grade distribution, and is not always …
Government response. The government states it has transitioned the Industrial Strategy Unit into a permanent delivery unit and has set out plans to restructure teams to focus on Industrial Strategy delivery, with this transformation already in progress and mostly completed by Spring …
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s prior…
Accepted
It is essential that the government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy has clear measures of success and effective processes for monitoring and evaluation. The government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy is central to its economic growth mission. The Department is placing great emphasis on the Strategy and sees it as an opportunity to set …
Government response. The government has committed to regularly reviewing progress against the Industrial Strategy, supported by the ISAC, and has implemented a public monitoring and evaluation approach underpinned by an impact pathway outlined in the technical annex. All government departments will carry …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s prior…
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Business and Trade (the Department) and HM Treasury on support for the UK’s priority industry sectors.1
Government response. The government states it conducted a detailed consultation, introduced a cross-government Account Management initiative with dedicated account managers and ministerial engagement, and established a dedicated area to coordinate business engagement. It also published 'The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy' and will …
HM Treasury
7
Recommendation
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s prior…
Accepted
To support industry, government must listen to the needs of businesses. The Department told us that while every government department engages with industry in some form, the Department for Business and Trade aspires to be a ‘front door’ for all businesses.10 The Department told us that the government wanted to …
Government response. The government conducted a detailed consultation with business through the green paper Invest 2035, introduced a cross-government Account Management initiative, appointing dedicated account managers to lead strategic relationships with key businesses, and established a dedicated area to coordinate business engagement …
HM Treasury
8
Recommendation
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s prior…
Accepted
The Department recognised the importance of sharing business intelligence across government. It said that while the legal and technical issues surrounding this could be resolved, creating the right culture and incentives was harder. The Department told us it takes an account management approach to structure its engagement with industry but …
Government response. The government has developed a new cross government digital customer relationship management system called the Strategic Company Insight Tool (SCIT) to improve the sharing of business intelligence, enable logging of business engagements, sharing company statistics, business insights and government priorities …
HM Treasury
9
Recommendation
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s prior…
Accepted
We asked the Department about its ability to monitor its engagement with economic sectors, given that officials do not consistently record their interactions with companies, and its digital system — DataHub — is not accessible across the whole of Whitehall.17 The Department noted the challenges of different digital platforms operating …
Government response. The government developed a cross government digital customer relationship management system called the Strategic Company Insight Tool (SCIT) to improve the sharing of business intelligence.
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s prior…
Accepted
In the absence of formal agreements, the NAO reported that teams had taken different approaches to agree roles and that structures had emerged to overcome cross-departmental barriers.24 The Department highlighted the Office for Life Sciences (OLS), its cross-department skills forum, and the recent Growth Mission Board as examples of government …
Government response. The department developed the whole of the Industrial Strategy in partnership with other departments and this ongoing programme of work involves sector councils and taskforces.
HM Treasury
16
Recommendation
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s prior…
Accepted
The Department does not have a complete overview or accurate data on what it, and wider government, spends on supporting industry. The Department found it difficult to readily provide the NAO with a breakdown of its support for industry. It does not routinely categorise the composition of its support, for …
Government response. The government will collaborate across government and public bodies to enhance tracking and reporting of support to the Industrial Strategy sectors, refine sector definitions, and conduct strategic analysis to assess policy effectiveness and economic trends.
HM Treasury
20
Recommendation
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s prior…
Accepted
We asked the Department to clarify its relationships with other departments and the influence it has in decision-making and trade-offs.40 The Department recognised it cannot deliver the forthcoming Industrial Strategy in isolation, and that other government departments have a role to play, although their objectives may not always be aligned. …
Government response. The government developed a cross government digital customer relationship management system called the Strategic Company Insight Tool (SCIT) to improve the sharing of business intelligence.
HM Treasury