Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 2
2
The Department has not set out how it will measure the benefits and outcomes of...
Conclusion
The Department has not set out how it will measure the benefits and outcomes of its programme of trade negotiations. The Department has published impact assessments, including projected economic benefits for each of the new FTAs it is pursuing, and has set out metrics that aim to demonstrate its progress in securing trade agreements in its Outcome Delivery Plan (ODP). However, the ODP measures projected, rather than secured, benefits and outcomes of each concluded trade agreement, and the Department has not set any associated targets. The Department acknowledges that these are forecasts and also that they do not cover potential wider benefits of trade deals such as productivity or geo-political impacts. It has committed to publishing regular monitoring reports for the new trade agreements with Japan and Australia and conducting comprehensive evaluations within five years to assess what has actually been achieved. However, we are concerned that without outcome-based targets, Parliament will not have the information it needs to hold the Department accountable. When considering this, the Department may 6 Progress with trade negotiations wish to emulate the six-monthly reporting exercise now being undertaken by the Department for Transport in relation to High Speed 2 following recommendations from this Committee. Recommendation: The Department should develop a set of clear and measurable outcome-based metrics with targets for its programme of trade negotiations. It should commit to regular reporting of progress to Parliament, including actual benefits and value achieved versus initial forecasts.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
2.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 2.2 However, the department publishes detailed impact assessments that set out its expectations against a wide range of criteria of what the impact of FTAs will be. In addition, the department will publish monitoring reports which will provide DIT’s analytical evidence base to inform Parliament, the public and other interested stakeholders on progress and actual benefits. 2.3 DIT has committed, in its impact assessments for the UK-Japan CEPA, UK-Australia FTA, and UK-New Zealand FTA, to publishing a biennial FTA monitoring report. 2.4 DIT’s Outcome Delivery Plan (ODP) includes metrics for trade negotiations. DIT will report on progress against each of the ODPs and continue to keep its ODP metrics under review. 2.5 These reports will cover outcome-based monitoring indicators where available. These include changes in trade flows and measures of the utilisation of the agreements. Where possible, they will also discuss the extent to which short term changes can be attributed to the FTA itself rather than wider factors.