Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted
The Department told us that the original business case had quite a large level of...
Conclusion
The Department told us that the original business case had quite a large level of projected savings—£100 million as quoted by the National Audit Office. We asked how much of that £100 million quoted in the report was actually realised and the Department confirmed that it would have been much lower than that. The Department also stated that there was an in-principle case that savings ought to be achievable, at almost no cost and no risk to the taxpayer, and that was the basis of the decision in 2012. However, the business case would probably not have been sufficient if government funds were being invested.9
Government response summary AI-generated
The government agrees with the committee's item and reissued updated guidance (DAO 03/22) in March 2022 to Accounting Officers, reiterating their responsibilities regarding novel and complex financing arrangements.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 1.2 In June 2019, HMT published DAO 02/19, which provided guidance to Accounting Officers in respect of novel and complex financing arrangements. 1.3 Following the Committee’s recommendation, on 18 March 2022 HMT reissued an updated version of DAO 02/19 (DAO 03/22). This reissued DAO reiterates accounting officers’ responsibilities in respect of such schemes and sets out the Committee’s recommendation.
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