Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
18th Report - Use of AI in Government
Published 26 Mar 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Use of AI in Government All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS), is intended to support public sector bodies to improve transparency and provide information about the algorithmic tools they are using, but the NAO found it was not widely used.27 We challenged DSIT on this lack of transparency as, at January 2025, only 33 records had been published on the ATRS website. 20 Q 38 21 Q 37; DSIT, A blueprint for modern digital government, January 2025, p 20 22 Q 39 23 C&AG’s Report, figure 10 24 UAIG0012, UAIG0017, UAIG0020, UAIG0032, UAIG0033, UAIG0035 25 UAIG0036 26 UAIG0011, UAIG0027 27 C&AG’s Report, para 3.20 12 It agreed with us that more records should be published and told us that the pace of publication had increased and it expected that to continue over the coming year.28
From: Public Accounts Committee, 18th Report - Use of AI in Government (HC 356), 26 March 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Eighteenth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Eighteenth report from Session 2024-26
Published 18 September 2025.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Eighteenth report from Session 2024-25
Published 10 July 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 each of the Committee's recommendations, setting target implementation dates between October 2025 and June 2026.
- On legacy technology, it agrees and says GDS will define "consistent metrics and methods" to measure the ongoing costs of legacy systems and the estimated cost of failing to remediate or replace them, with a target date of January 2026.
- On transparency, it is "aiming to publish" Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard records for all currently identified in-scope tools in government departments (not including arm's-length bodies) "by the end of 2025".
- On digital skills, it agrees and says all executive committees will be required to include digital leaders and boards to appoint digital non-executive directors "by 2026", with further detail in the forthcoming Government Digital and AI Roadmap.
- On scaling AI pilots, it agrees and says a proposal is "currently being developed" in the Public Sector AI Adoption programme, with a target implementation date of May 2026.