Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Accepted
The previous Committee raised concerns about the lack of transparency because some assessments were not...
Conclusion
The previous Committee raised concerns about the lack of transparency because some assessments were not being published.27 A lot of summary AO assessments are still not published.28 The National Audit Office reviewed 73 published summary assessment to see how soon they had been published after they had been signed. Only 56 of these had sufficient information to enable it to complete this analysis, a quarter were published more than six months after signature.29 HM Treasury told us that “transparency is absolutely critical” but it was not clear on the consequences for departments not publishing summary AO assessments. It also told us that departments do not report or account to it for their responsibilities.30
Government Response Summary
HM Treasury states that accounting officer assessment guidance published in December 2021 required all draft assessments to be signed off by a senior member of the Finance Function, and Treasury spending teams continue to engage with departments to provide support and expertise. Training is also being delivered through the Government Finance Academy, and HM Treasury engages with Finance Directors and Accounting Officers via regular forums.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2. PAC conclusion: The quality of published AO assessments varies, with some providing insufficient information to understand a programme’s purpose or how it has been assessed. 2. PAC recommendation: HM Treasury should share with departments good practice, to help facilitate learning from others and draw in expertise, to support them in addressing difficult factors as part of AO assessments. 21 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 2.2 Accounting Officer Assessment guidance published in December 2021 required all draft Accounting Officer Assessment to be signed off by a senior member of the Finance Function within the department. This was designed to drive improvements to AO assessments via the Finance Function, as well as provide additional assurance. 2.3 Treasury spending teams and Treasury Officer of Accounts continue to engage with departments on specific projects and proposals to provide support and expertise in the preparation of AO assessment, both informally and via the Treasury Approval point process. 2.4 More broadly, Treasury Officer of Accounts has worked with the Government Finance Academy to deliver training to teams across government on AO assessments. This training will be updated and repeated on an ongoing basis, while recordings of the training are available on the One Finance platform on demand. This draws on the recommendations made in the NAO report. 2.5 In addition, HM Treasury continues to engage with Finance Directors via the Finance Leadership Group as well as providing training to Accounting Officers via the regular Accounting Officer Responsibilities Round table for all new Accounting Officers.