Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 10
57th Report - Government services: Generating income
Published 10 Dec 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Government services: Identifying costs and generating income All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Over the five-year period from 2019-20 to 2023-24, none of the seven government services reviewed consistently met their cost-recovery targets. Poor cost-recovery persisting over time results in a build-up of surplus and deficits in some services. Both passports and family court fees have repeatedly missed their cost-recovery targets by more than 10% each year over this five-year period.18 We asked the Treasury how it will help government bodies manage the persistent deficits and surpluses more proactively in the future. The Treasury told us that it plans to 13 Qq 26, 28, 30 14 Qq 27-28; C&AG’s Report, para 3.3 15 Qq 27, 28, 46 16 C&AG’s Report, paras 8, 2.21 17 Qq 26, 46, 18 C&AG’s Report, para 2.21 9 introduce more regular reporting, promote greater professionalism, and standardise practices to ensure a more systematic approach to fees and recovering costs.19
From: Public Accounts Committee, 57th Report - Government services: Generating income (HC 890), 10 December 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 1 April 2026 (deadline 10 February 2026).