Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted
The Department failed to record in its own published transparency releases that Randox had attended...
Recommendation
The Department failed to record in its own published transparency releases that Randox had attended four meetings on testing with ministers in 2020, although it did declare four other meetings involving ministers and Randox. Minutes or records of discussions were kept for two of these meetings.10 The Ministerial Code requires departments to publish details of ministers’ meetings with external organisations on a quarterly basis.11 However, details of some ministerial meetings with Randox emerged only because documents relating to Randox’s contracts were requested by MPs through the ‘Humble Address’ process and published in February 2022. The documents released included private emails and WhatsApp messages between ministers and Randox’s representatives that were not saved in the Department’s information systems at the time. The Information Commissioner has investigated the use of private correspondence channels at the Department, concluding in a July 2022 report that there were failings in the Department’s compliance with transparency obligations.12 The Department admitted to us that the omissions in recording and reporting ministerial meetings were “a straight error”. Its explanation was that transparency returns are completed by ministers’ private offices, and staff working in those offices had faced significant workload pressures at that time.13
Government Response Summary
The department has undertaken a review of historic ministerial diaries and updated the register where necessary, strengthened reporting and quality assurance processes, and reinforced transparency requirements across ministerial private offices.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation Implemented 2.2 The exponential increase in departmental activity and the urgency with which meetings were conducted at the height of the pandemic resulted in inadvertent omissions from the register of ministerial meetings. Many hundreds of meetings with external parties were routinely published in line with transparency requirements over this period. The department has undertaken a review of historic ministerial diaries and has, where necessary, updated the register in line with Cabinet Office requirements. 2.3 The department takes transparency requirements for ministerial teams extremely seriously and has strengthened both reporting and quality assurance processes. Minutes are taken for all meetings with external parties and are centrally held. The clearance requirements for quarterly transparency returns are in line with best practice across government, including PPS and ministerial clearance for each entry. Sessions led by the Cabinet Office on transparency returns are attended by those responsible for compiling ministerial returns. Corporate objectives, including transparency requirements, are reinforced across ministerial private offices and in all performance management conversations. Should there be a future failure to meet requirements, the department will correct the public record at the first available opportunity and will ensure that new employees are reminded of the importance of adhering to transparency obligations.