Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted
We are concerned that the 17 departmental groups had to write off close to £7...
Recommendation
We are concerned that the 17 departmental groups had to write off close to £7 billion in total during 2024–25 for spending that did not achieve intended objectives. In addition to writing off £6.6 billion during 2024–25, the 17 departmental groups also made special payments outside their normal activities that totalled over £293 million. It is possible some of this expenditure may have been in the public interest, however it may also indicate where bodies did not exercise proper control or oversight on spending. We particularly consider losses incurred from cancelling projects after large sums have already been invested to be very poor value for money. recommendation HM Treasury should analyse the root causes of recent large reported losses, to identify what lessons can be learned and avoid such wasted funds in future investment decisions, and report back to the Committee by the end of the year.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government accepted the recommendation to analyse the root causes of recent large reported losses across government to identify lessons for future investment decisions. The Treasury committed to leading this analysis and reporting back to the Committee by the end of 2026.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation wrote off close to £7 billion in 2024–25. While some losses reflect legitimate policy decisions - such as the cancellation of projects no longer in the public interest - the government recognises that losses of this scale warrant rigorous analysis to draw out lessons for future decision-making. The Treasury accepts the Committee’s recommendation and will lead an analysis of the root causes of recent reported losses across government, drawing on evidence from across departmental groups. This analysis will be coordinated across the relevant parts of the Treasury and will be used to identify actionable lessons to inform future investment decisions and spending controls. The Treasury will report back to the Committee by the end of 2026 billion by the end of 2024–25, an £11.8 billion increase on the previous year.