Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Rejected
Committee takes evidence on local authority-administered COVID-19 business grants.
Conclusion
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 about local authority-administered COVID-19 grants for businesses in England.2
Government Response Summary
The government explicitly disagrees with the committee's recommendation, stating that a single precise definition for basic control in national emergencies is not appropriate given the varied nature of such events.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Every national emergency is different, and HM Treasury (HMT) adopts levels of control proportionate to the scale and nature of the emergency in question. It is therefore not appropriate to set a single precise definition for the basic level of control needed and exactly how the trade-offs with speed of response should be handled. The first principle, however, is that in the case of national emergency, the established spending framework continues to apply. Specifically: • accounting officers (AOs) remain responsible for departmental expenditure and for maintaining the AO standards of regularity, propriety, value for money and feasibility in relation to public spending; • departments must comply with Managing Public Money (including the requirement for HMT consent); and • requirements for appropriate budget cover, estimates authority and legal powers to spend money still apply. As seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is sufficient flexibility within this framework to tailor responses to the specific circumstances of the emergency in question. In such circumstances, AOs are expected to exercise sound judgement concerning the application of resources – as afforded them by Parliament – and they are responsible for the management of the associated risks and trade-offs, such as between the need for speed and the increased likelihood of fraud and error. Where appropriate, HMT may implement flexibilities within the spending framework tailored to the specific emergency, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, although these do not abrogate the AO’s responsibilities. In addition to these flexibilities, HMT may also enhance assurance to deal with heightened risks - for example reducing the risk of fraud by integrating the role of the Public Sector Fraud Authority into HMT approval processes. Should the AO consider that they are unable to meet these duties, they are expected to seek direction from their senior minister. billion lost to error and fraud has been recovered.