Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 29
29
Acknowledged
We therefore asked the Accounting Officer (AO) why there had been such a delay in...
Conclusion
We therefore asked the Accounting Officer (AO) why there had been such a delay in sharing the assessment with Parliament. The Accounting Officer told us that they kept their assessments under constant review, but that the publication of AO assessment summaries has to be agreed by relevant Ministers. They explained that, on the Sovereign Borders Programme, the Home Secretary had decided to make it public in March 2024. We reminded the Accounting Officer that he is accountable to the Public Accounts Committee and Parliament, noting that other departments have shared assessments in a much more timely manner, without Ministerial approval being a barrier.50 HM Treasury guidance states that departments need to publish summary assessments promptly when a project is included in the Government Major Projects Portfolio. In some cases, the timing might depend on other sensitivities, such as commercial confidentiality, and the accounting officer may decide public interest is best served by delaying publication. In such circumstances, the Accounting Officer should nonetheless still share a copy of the summary assessment on a confidential basis with the chairs of the Public Accounts Committee and relevant departmental committees, along with an explanation of the need 47 Qq 123, 129–130, 132; C&AG’s Report, UK-Rwanda partnership, para 10 48 Public Accounts Committee, Oral Evidence; Reducing the harm from illegal drugs, 4 December 2023, Qq 1–50 49 Qq 1, 7, 14, 22, 27; Letter from Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, to Dame Meg Hillier DBE MP, Chair, Public Accounts Committee, Home Office Sovereign Borders Programme: Summary Accounting Officer Assessment, dated 27 March 2024 50 Qq 1–4, 10–13 18 Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership for confidentiality. In written evidence provided after the evidence session, HM Treasury noted that there may be circumstances where the accounting officer determines they are unable to share information with the Committee as they
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the importance of producing Accounting Officer Assessments (AOAs) and commits to producing new ones promptly, but states implementation dates are to be advised and ministerial views remain part of the process.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: to be advised. 6.2 The implementation dates are dependent on project development; therefore, a date cannot be currently supplied but the department will inform the Committee as soon as it is able to do so. 6.3 The Home Office is committed to producing Accounting Officer Assessments (AOA) for all required programmes including any new or outstanding Programme AOAs, these are being progressed now and whilst the Home Office intend to publish any outstanding assessments as quickly as possible, it is right that it gets the views of Ministers in this process. For new programmes or those with significant changes, the AOA will be produced promptly at the same time as an updated business case. 6.4 Decisions by new Ministers are likely to result in changes to some Programmes. For example, discussions are ongoing on the Asylum Accommodation Non-Detained Programme including large sites and so the department will not yet be publishing an AOA but will keep the Committee updated. 6.5 On sharing information about negotiations with other countries that are being considered for third country processing, the Home Office Permanent Secretary noted during the Committee evidence session that it is important that the substance of those negotiations is kept private due to their sensitive nature. The department will write to the new Committee on this in due course to provide updates as necessary.