Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 17
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s priority industry sectors
Published 25 Jun 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Work of the Department for Business and Trade All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
While its primary objective is economic growth, the Department uses a range of metrics to guide its work, some of which require trade-offs. Factors considered by the Department when designing support initiatives include GVA, net zero ambitions, and national security. The NAO found that the Department lacked a standardised approach to balance different metrics when making decisions to support industry. This can make it difficult for stakeholders to understand the rationale behind interventions; for the Department to demonstrate why it prioritised one intervention over another; and hampers its ability to evaluate the effectiveness of its interventions.35
From: Public Accounts Committee, 33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s priority industry sectors (HC 1070), 25 June 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-third Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 25 August 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-third report from Session 2024-26
Published 18 September 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each of the six recommendations, marking four as implemented and two with target implementation dates in 2026.
- On engagement with industry, it says a cross-government Account Management initiative has appointed dedicated account managers, and that it "will explore establishing dedicated Sector Offices" where there is appetite from industry.
- On cross-government working, it says it has developed a new digital system, the Strategic Company Insight Tool, and is "expanding usage" among departments.
- On understanding of its support for industry, the department says it "will collaborate across government and public bodies to enhance tracking and reporting" of support to the Industrial Strategy sectors.
- On internal structures, it states that its restructuring is "already in progress and will be mostly completed by Spring 2026". The response on balancing objectives has a target implementation date of Summer 2026.