Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Accepted
Absence of early central business case hindered risk management and taxpayer savings.
Recommendation
The Cabinet Office plans to revisit its “Case for Change” now that clusters have completed their own individual business cases, updating this to include a more detailed position on the costs and benefits of the strategy.19 We noted that the production of a central business case at the start of the strategy would have been helpful in managing risk, reassuring HM Treasury and disseminating learning and best practice, all of which would have helped to save taxpayer money.20 Funding
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to develop a hybrid business case/updated case for change by May 2024, embedding key Green Book elements and assured by the IPA, to provide a detailed central position on the strategy's costs and benefits.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: May 2024 (following Full Business Cases from Clusters) Upon Strategy launch, pace of delivery was prioritised, therefore business case development was led at the cluster level. Practical implication of a full business case is a centrally delivered programme, which was avoided as having the clusters act as one would have meant that the ‘convoy’ would have only been moving at the rate of the slowest cluster. Additionally, the Strategy is not a centrally funded programme, there are five individual programmes of work seeking funding and approval to be considered on their own merit by HM Treasury and Cabinet Office. A full business case would have added an additional layer of bureaucracy and gone against government norms. Guidance on the use of business cases is set out in the Government Functional Standard 002; they apply to Programmes & Projects (as defined in the same standard) and the HMT Green Book. As outlined in Annex A of the Green Book, Strategy teams, and the Portfolios that manage programmes and projects do not normally have business cases, they are set budgets based on spending reviews and business planning processes. As part of this recommendation a hybrid business case/updated case for change will be developed. This takes the key areas of a green book programme business case, that are relevant, and embeds them in our case for change, to cover all areas whilst not confusing it with the cluster business cases. This will be assured by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA). The National Audit Office (NAO) have agreed this is an acceptable approach.