Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Accepted
Government bodies too often lack the necessary financial management skills to support digital transformation effectively.
Recommendation
Government bodies too often lack the necessary financial management skills to support digital transformation effectively. There are potentially huge gains to be had in government from successfully leveraging new technologies and digital opportunities, in terms of both better services for citizens and savings or efficiencies for the public purse. However, while business as usual IT change is generally reasonably managed by government, it frequently finds applying appropriate skills, financial controls and governance to major IT change or digital transformation projects more challenging. Managing such changes poorly can lead to serious and ongoing impacts for the running of an organisation. In its digital transformation programme for its settlement system, the Bank of England managed costs carefully: it delivered the programme largely on time and at an estimated cost of £431mn, and avoided costs creeping up in an unplanned way. Whereas in contrast, total costs of National Savings 4 and Investment (NS&I) transformation programme, including running costs, were estimated in 2024 at £3.0 billion, an increase of £1.3 billion from 2020, with further increases likely. recommendation The Government Finance Function should set out how it will ensure government finance teams have the necessary skills to apply appropriate financial controls and governance to digital transformation projects.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government agreed to the recommendation, outlining plans to include a dedicated financial management module in the Major Projects Leadership Academy by March/April 2027 and continuing efforts to strengthen finance capability through recruitment and risk management activities.
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. commercial module within the Major Projects Leadership Academy (MPLA) will include dedicated provision on financial management. This includes a session on applying financial controls and governance in complex delivery environments, including digital transformation. Content is currently being developed, with early engagement between NISTA, the Government Finance Function (GFF), Government Commercial Agency and the Risk Centre of Excellence (RCOE) to explore joint design opportunities and ensure alignment with wider cross-government risk and finance capability priorities. The refreshed MPLA curriculum is expected to commence in September 2026, with the commercial module delivered in March/April 2027. This timeline supports collaboration with GFF and commercial colleagues to ensure content is robust, relevant and develops the financial management skills needed to oversee and assure major digital investments. In parallel, the GFF is strengthening finance capability by using Skills Capture Tool insights to identify capability gaps and align learning provision to workforce needs. Its curriculum has expanded to build digital, data, sustainability and interpersonal skills, enabling finance professionals to support complex transformation portfolios while maintaining strong core finance expertise. The GFF also delivers an annual recruitment campaign to increase the number of qualified accountants entering government, with 65% of recruits in the 2026 campaign coming from the private sector, further strengthening finance capability. The RCOE complements this by strengthening risk management capability, governance and control across government through Senior Civil Service risk masterclasses, published guidance, and specialist project and portfolio risk management products that improve the consistency of risk identification, assessment, escalation and reporting. A Programme Risk AI Agent supports practitioners in applying established risk management approaches and making effective use of existing guidance and tools. Together, these measures will help ensure finance teams have the skills required to apply appropriate financial controls and governance to digital transformation projects.