Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Accepted
Outline plans to incentivise departments to populate IPA benchmarking hub with project data.
Recommendation
The IPA’s plans to improve the quality of government’s cost estimates of major projects have taken too long to implement. We have examined many projects Delivering value from government investment in major projects 7 where early cost estimates have proved to bear little resemblance to what a project will ultimately cost, and there is optimism bias in nearly every project we look at. Funding packages are often agreed, and projects approved before projects have reached sufficient maturity. High Speed 2 is a prime example of a budget being set well before plans were sufficiently mature. The IPA says that departments should be using ranges of potential costs until a project is sufficiently mature to finalise a funding package. Lack of cost-estimation capability in government means that departments end up too reliant on suppliers to determine what a project will cost. The IPA has produced cost-estimation guidance and developed a cost-benchmarking hub to provide better data to improve cost estimation. However, the IPA does not expect departments to populate it with their project cost data until later this year and currently does not intend that the benchmarking hub also includes information on the value and benefits that projects produce. Recommendation 5: Alongside their response to this report, the Infrastructure Projects Authority and HM Treasury should write to the Committee setting out how they plan to incentivise departments to populate the IPA’s benchmarking hub with accurate and consistent information on the actual costs and benefits of their projects.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and will provide further detail to the Committee in December, consistent with the target implementation date.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. deadline will be missed. The Annual Report and Accounts production and audit are currently progressing well and are on target for a September publication. Treasury Minutes Archive1 Treasury Minutes are the government’s response to reports from the Committee of Public Accounts. Treasury Minutes are Command Papers laid in Parliament. Session 2024-25 Committee Recommendations: 285 Recommendations agreed: 270 (95%) Recommendations disagreed: 15 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number April 2025 Government response to PAC reports 1-4, 6-9 CP 1306 May 2025 Government response to PAC reports 5,10-17 CP 1328 June 2025 Government response to PAC reports 18-22 CP 1341 July 2025 Government response to PAC reports 23-26 CP 1367 August 2025 Government response to PAC reports 27-34 CP 1382 Session 2023-24 Committee Recommendations: 271 Recommendations agreed: 252 (93%) Recommendations disagreed: 19 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number February 2024 Government response to PAC reports 1-6 [80 Session 22-23] CP 1029 March 2024 Government response to PAC reports 7-11 CP 1057 April 2024 Government response to PAC reports 12-18 CP 1070 May 2024 Government response to PAC reports 19-24 CP 1085 September 2024 Government response to PAC reports 26-29, 31, 33-38 CP 1151 October 2024 Government response to PAC reports 25, 26, 30 and 32 CP 1174 Session 2022-23 Committee Recommendations: 551 Recommendations agreed: 489 (89%) Recommendations disagreed: 62 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number July 2022 Government response to PAC reports 1, 3 & 10 CP 722 August 2022 Government response to PAC reports 2, 4-8 CP 708 September 2022 Government response to PAC reports 9, 13-16 CP 745 November 2022 Government response to PAC reports 11, 12, 17 CP 755 December 2022 Government response to PAC reports 18-22 CP 774 January 2023 Government response to PAC reports 23-26 CP 781 February 2023 Government response to PAC reports 27-31 CP 802 March 2023 Government response to PAC reports 32-36 CP 828 May 2023 Government response to PAC reports 37-41 CP 845 June 2023 Government response to PAC reports 42-47 CP 847 1 List of Treasury Minutes responses for Sessions 2010-15 are annexed in the government’s response to PAC Report 52 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number July 2023 Government response to PAC reports 48-54 CP 902 August 2023 Government response to PAC reports 55-60 CP 921 September 2023 Government response to PAC reports 62-67 CP 941 November 2023 Government response to PAC reports 68-71 CP 968 January 2024 Government response to PAC reports 72-79 CP 1000 February 2024 Government response to PAC reports 80 [1-6 Session 23-24] CP 1029 Session 2021-22 Committee Recommendations: 362 Recommendations agreed: 333 (92%) Recommendations disagreed: 29 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number August 2021 Government response to PAC reports 1-6 CP 510 September 2021 Government response to PAC reports 8-11 CP 520 November 2021 Government response to PAC reports 7,13-16 (and TM2 BBC) CP 550 December 2021 Government response to PAC reports 12, 17-21 CP 583 January 2022 Government response to PAC reports 22-26 CP 603 February 2022 Government response to PAC reports 27-31 CP 631 April 2022 Government response to PAC reports 32-35 CP 649 April 2022 Government response to PAC reports 36-42 CP 667 July 2022 Government response to PAC reports 49-52 CP 722 Session 2019-21 Committee Recommendations: 233 Recommendations agreed: 208 (89%) Recommendations disagreed: 25 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number July 2020 Government responses to PAC reports 1-6 CP 270 September 2020 Government responses to PAC reports 7-13 CP 291 November 2020 Government responses to PAC reports 14-17 and 19 CP 316 January 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 18, 20-24 CP 363 February 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 25-29 CP 376 February 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 30-34 CP 389 March 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 35-39 CP 409 April 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 40- 44 CP 420 May 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 45-51 CP 434 June 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 52-56 CP 456 Session 2019 Committee Recommendations: 11 Recommendations agreed: 11 (100%) Recommendations disagreed: 0 Ref Publication Date PAC Reports Number January 2020 Government response to PAC report [112-119] 1 and 2 CP 210 Session 2017-19 Committee Recommendations: 747 Recommendations agreed: 675 (90%) Recommendations disagreed: 72 (10%) Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number December 2017 Government response to PAC report 1 Cm 9549 January 2018 Government responses to PAC reports 2 and 3 Cm 9565 March 2018 Government responses to PAC reports 4-11 Cm 9575 March 2018 Government responses to PAC reports 12-19 Cm 9596 May 2018 Government responses to PAC reports 20-30 Cm 9618 June 2018 Government responses to PAC reports 31-37 Cm 9643 July 2018 Government responses to PAC reports 38-42 Cm 9667 October