Select committee: Public Accounts Committee

Conclusion 12

67th Report - NS&I’s transformation programme Published 13 Feb 2026 Addressed to HM Treasury
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The external organisations that have reviewed the programme told the NAO that NS&I was sometimes or often slow to act, or did not act at all, on advice.29 We asked whether NS&I’s leadership had learned from the issues with the Programme. NS&I offered two lessons: it acknowledged that it had over-estimated the complexity of the Programme; but then claimed there was a positive lesson because it had continued to operate the organisation as a whole despite the delays.30 When asked if it regretted that more money 22 Q 21 23 Q 23 24 Qq 1-2 25 Q 6 26 Qq 7-8 27 Q 9 28 Qq 10-11 29 C&AG’s Report, para 19 30 Q 1 10 was being spent on the Programme instead of being available for improving public services, it could only reiterate how much funding NS&I had raised for government through its activities.31

From: Public Accounts Committee, 67th Report - NS&I’s transformation programme (HC 1237), 13 February 2026

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 7 April 2026 (deadline 13 April 2026).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each of the recommendations in the report, and sets target implementation dates between June and Autumn 2026.

  • On the integrated plan, the government agrees that NS&I should prepare a realistic plan. NS&I is developing costed options, which will form the basis of a revised Full Business Case in the second quarter of 2026-27, "subject to Treasury and Ministerial process timings".
  • NS&I will write to the Committee "within six months" setting out the integrated plan, including timelines and a revised estimated cost, and will provide a written update on its risk management framework "by June 2026".
  • On culture, a business-wide programme of cultural change activity will be developed, with an initial plan to go to the Board and the Treasury in early Summer 2026 for "rolling implementation over the coming 12-18 months".
  • The Treasury says it will evaluate NS&I's agreed plan through a full Treasury Approval Panel process and will write to the Committee in the Autumn on lessons learned from its oversight.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error