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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Government services: Identifying costs and generating income

Status: Open Opened: 6 May 2025 29 recommendations 17 conclusions 2 reports

The Committee (PAC) is holding an inquiry to look at government’s management of fees and charges to recover the costs of providing services and how government is identifying costs to sustainably improve productivity. Improved productivity is key to the government’s aims to improve the affordability of public services. Government’s roadmap for digital and data 2022-25 …

Clear

Reports

2 reports
Title HC No. Published Items Response
58th Report - Government services: Identifying costs HC 1421 12 Dec 2025 21 Responded
57th Report - Government services: Generating income HC 890 10 Dec 2025 25 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
1 Conclusion 57th Report - Government services: Gene… Not Addressed

Committee took evidence on financial management of government fees and charges.

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from HM Treasury (the Treasury), the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), and Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on the financial management of fees and charges across government.1

Government response. The government's response discusses a plan to support fee-charging public bodies and a working group to issue operational guidance, which does not address the actual text of this introductory conclusion.
HM Treasury
6 Conclusion 58th Report - Government services: Iden… Not Addressed

Accountability for departmental cost information is jointly held but not systematically enforced.

Responsibility for holding departments to account for improving their cost information is joint between the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. The Cabinet Office sets the overall performance management framework expectations, including financial minimum standards.6 However, it does not systematically enforce compliance, relying instead on departments and internal auditors. HM Treasury’s …

Government response. The government repeats the response from ID 2039, which does not address the specific observation of the committee.
HM Treasury
17 Conclusion 58th Report - Government services: Iden… Not Addressed

Absence of Single Service Owners hinders understanding of end-to-end service costs.

It is difficult for departments to gain a full view of the end-to-end costs of a service where there is no Single Service Owner (SSO) with overall mandate and responsibility for the service concerned.41 This also weakens the incentives to identify and reduce costs overall, because the focus is on …

Government response. The government repeats the response from ID 2050, which does not address the specific observation of the committee.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

2 sessions
Date Witnesses
20 Oct 2025 Andrew Cartner · HM Treasury, Bonnie Wang · DSIT, Cat Little CB · Cabinet Office, Conrad Smewing · HM Treasury View ↗
16 Oct 2025 Farhad Chikhalia · Ministry of Justice, James Bowler CB · HM Treasury, Matthew Taylor · HM Treasury, Nick Donlevy · HM Treasury, Tim Moss CBE · Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency View ↗

Correspondence

9 letters
DateDirectionTitle
27 Apr 2026 From cttee Letter to the Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury relating to Treasure Minute re…
27 Apr 2026 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary to the Department of Science, Innovation an…
27 Apr 2026 From cttee Letter to the Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury relating to Treasury Minute re…
12 Mar 2026 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Science, Innovation a…
1 Dec 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury relating to the Committee’s …
1 Dec 2025 To cttee Letter from the Chief Executive of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency rela…
13 Nov 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office to the Chair relating…
13 Nov 2025 To cttee Letter from the Director for Digital Strategy and Assurance of the Department f…
3 Nov 2025 From cttee Letter to the Chair relating to Committee hearing: Identifying costs and genera…