Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Accepted
Departments warn current shared services funding settlement may be insufficient for delivery.
Conclusion
Departments have stated that this settlement may not be enough to allow them to proceed with their preferred procurement options if final costs, which they currently estimate to be between £382 million and £403 million, continue to exceed the funding available.23 The Department for Work & Pensions told us that one of the top risks to the successful delivery of the Shared Services Strategy was the uncertainty over the additional funding it needed in this Spending Review period.24 It noted that it has to make the best case it can to get the extra funding for the rest of this Spending Review period, as well as the additional funding required in the next Spending Review period. The cluster business cases forecast that about £480 million in investment funding will be required in subsequent Spending Review periods to deliver these programmes. These figures are likely to change as clusters engage with the market and finalise their business cases.25 23 Q 62; C&AG’s Report, para 3.5 24 Q 83 25 Q 28; C&AG’s Report, para 19 12 Government Shared Services 2 Project management Benefits
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and is actively communicating with HM Treasury to ensure funding for the 2024 Spending Review (SR24), with a target implementation date of November 2023. Initial funding of £126.58 million has been granted to clusters, and ongoing work on Final Business Cases and a benefits framework will inform future SR24 bids.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: November 2023 Communication is constant with HM Treasury in regard to how funding can be ensured in the 2024 Spending Review (SR24). There is knowledge and experience within the funding space. Previously, for SR21 an extensive bidding process was completed with three clusters (Synergy, Matrix and Unity) which resulted in the programme being granted £300 million in reserve funding. Work then began on initial business cases which resulted in approval and each cluster being granted initial funding of £126.58 million which will allow the clusters to proceed through the final business case (FBC) stage. Vitally, FBC’s will contain Strategy whole life costs; this will be beneficial in formulating SR24 bids. Additionally, ongoing work on a benefits framework will enable us to qualify the full value for money that the Strategy will deliver which will assist in formulating SR24 bids.