Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 23
23
Treasury's intervention in NS&I's red-rated programme was significantly delayed despite early warnings
Conclusion
The NAO found that the Treasury has increased its scrutiny of the Programme since 2024, and had instigated changes to governance, including appointing new NEDs.66 The Treasury noted that it has now moved to a “quite interventionist” approach, but agreed that this could have happened earlier.67 Although the Treasury knew that the programme was already rated “red” in Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s 2022–23 annual report, it took until 2024 to get a grip on the programme and appoint new NEDs, a new chair of the transformation board and, in November 2025, asking Mr Goldstone to look at the programme.68
Government Response
A response document is linked to this report, dated 7 April 2026. Response attribution to this conclusion has not been verified. Read the response document ↗