Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 23
23
The Department set out in its Governance Statement that during the audit of the Department’s...
Conclusion
The Department set out in its Governance Statement that during the audit of the Department’s accounts, it became apparent the Department’s process for collating and assessing potential related parties and related party transactions did not provide the necessary completeness assurance over the interests held by senior individuals. Consequently, the Department undertook further work to strengthen its processes, including obtaining direct written confirmation of related parties from Ministers, non- executive directors and senior staff and undertaking completeness searches on the results of those confirmations.41 This led to the disclosure of 13 and a half pages of interests, held by Ministers, senior members of staff, non-executive directors or their immediate families within the Annual Report and Accounts.42 We told the Department that the extensive disclosures made were a welcome improvement in its transparency and the Department agreed.43 Re-organisation of the NHS
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
5: PAC conclusion: The Department’s COVID-19 pandemic procurement highlighted the importance of achieving transparency in respect of how it identifies and manages declarations of interests. 5: PAC recommendation: The Department should maintain and improve accountability by embedding their revised processes so that these are undertaken on a timely basis each and every year and normalise the transparency of the results by inclusion of the full list of interests identified in every Annual Report and Accounts. 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 5.2 As part of the preparation of the 2021-22 Annual Report and Accounts, the department has implemented the agreed revised process for identifying and disclosing interests and related parties, incorporating all lessons learned from the 2020-21 process and recommendations from the National Audit Office (NAO). 5.3 As in 2020-21, the department will continue to include a full list of interests in each and every annual report and accounts.