Recommendation 47

The Department said that the need to build up teams due to the organisational changes was the key factor in this opinion being received and that appropriate governance structures were not in place for the full financial year. The Department considers that by the end of financial year 2023–24 the capability and capacity necessary to implement a sufficient framework of governance was in place.83 The Department said that internal audit concerns were reasonable given the scale of the changes which occurred. The first four months of the financial year, the Department considered it was working on an “interim-type” model before moving to a “steady-state position” from Autumn 2023 onwards.84 Based upon the improvements it considers were implemented by the end of the 2023–24 financial year, the Department expects that it will receive a ‘moderate’ assurance opinion from GIAA for its 2024–25 accounts.85 This is defined as “some improvements are required to enhance the adequacy and effectiveness of the framework of governance, risk management and control”.86 82 DBT ARA 2023–24, p 55 83 Q 38 84 Q 40 85 Q 39 86 Cabinet Office, Government efficiencies and savings (2022/23): Technical note, January 2025 22