Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 25
25
Government advised departments not to implement salary advance schemes, but this advice was not cascaded...
Conclusion
Government advised departments not to implement salary advance schemes, but this advice was not cascaded to the Department’s arm’s-length bodies (ALBs). Guidance issued by Civil Service Human Resources in December 2020 to accounting officers reminded them that novel financing arrangements, including salary advance schemes, required caution, and needed departmental accounting officer and HM Treasury approvals. There is evidence that some departments declined approaches by Greensill Capital to subscribe to its salary advance scheme, but it appears they may not all have cascaded this information to their ALBs. The Department told us that, owing to an oversight, it cascaded guidance to its ALBs only recently. It also told us that as NHS trusts are not ALBs of the Department it would not be normal practice to disseminate this advice to the NHS.26
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
4a PAC recommendation: The Department, working with NHSE&I, should adopt a formal process for ensuring that government advice is disseminated to NHS trust leadership for consideration and implementation if relevant. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Recommendation implemented 4.2 The Public Contract Regulations apply to all public sector contracting authorities, including NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts. The Cabinet Office formulates public procurement policy and disseminates policy advice to the public sector through a process involving the publication of Procurement Policy Notices, such as PPN 04/2021, on GOV.UK. NHS England & Improvement’s (NHSE&I) Chief Commercial Officer is a member of the GCF which is a part of the Cabinet Office. However, as NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts are independent legal entities and not Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) of the department, it would not be normal practice to disseminate advice aimed at government departments and ALBs to the NHS where it is not operationally relevant; for example, the salary advanced scheme guidance, as this was not aimed at staff on NHS terms and conditions. 4.3 NHSE&I has a process for disseminating relevant government advice to NHS trusts. Relevant updates are included, for example, in their twice-weekly Healthcare Leaders Bulletin which brings together important updates for the NHS colleagues – this includes relevant updates from the department, other partners and stakeholders. NHSE&I also has a formal route to system leaders through its Single Point of Contact team – this route is only used for items requiring immediate attention, to ensure it is not overburdening the system with multiple separate communications.