Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Accepted
Treasury significantly improved WGA quality and accessibility through new reporting sections.
Conclusion
In the 2022–23 WGA, the Treasury has added new sections to the performance report, improving the quality and accessibility of reporting in the accounts.45 These include new accounting spotlight sections that address key areas such as consolidation, new accounting standards and discount rates.46 Another section added this year is the ‘year at a glance’, where the WGA highlights some examples of spend in the year, such as £1.84 billion committed to the European Space Agency and £2.6 billion provided in recovery funding to support the most disadvantaged pupils.47
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the committee's observation of WGA improvements and commits to designing a draft WGA pocketbook after the 2023-24 WGA is published (Autumn 2025) and sharing it with the committee.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2025. HM Treasury has sought to continually improve WGA. The most recent improvement for the 2022-23 account was the inclusion of accounting spotlights, which provide a detailed overview of accounting concepts. In previously years there have been developments in the use of trend data and infographics. We have also improved the level of disclosures relating to missing and unaudited data. HM Treasury officials are open to providing briefing to MPs on WGA where requested. Summary publications such as a WGA pocketbook can be useful, but HM Treasury feels that greater impact can be made by investing in providing more open access to WGA data. HM Treasury will design a draft summary WGA pocketbook after WGA 2023-24 is published and will share an early draft with the committee prior to publication. HM Treasury will continue to assess opportunities for greater digitisation in future years, however the priority is ensuring that the WGA recovery plan is completed, and that WGA returns to a stable and timely publication schedule, before we consider digital options.