Recommendation 3

While accounting officers recognise the value of AO assessments, they are not being used consistently across government. AO assessments can help accounting officers in several ways – they support decision making about whether a project or programme should go ahead, or whether a ministerial direction is required before doing so. They can also help accounting officers consider a programme’s political context alongside practical implementation and act as ‘corporate memory’ and ‘audit trail’ for earlier decisions. We have seen their value when scrutinising programmes such as High Speed 2. But AO assessments are not being used widely enough across the breadth of central government activity. The Cabinet Office acknowledges the need to address the timing, quality and consistency of AO assessments. HM Treasury says that while it is very clear for some programmes that an AO assessment was required, for others more judgement is required. It recognises that more needs to be done to create a culture whereby accounting officers consistently see the benefits and value in completing an AO assessment. Recommendation: Cabinet Office and HM Treasury should embed AO assessments into training for senior civil servants and set up specific forums for AOs to share how they use AO assessments to draw judgements against each of the four AO standards.