Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 21
21
Accepted
New Efficiency Framework aims to standardise and improve cross-government savings reporting and benchmarking.
Conclusion
In July 2023, the Treasury issued a framework for tracking, monitoring and overseeing efficiency savings. The framework provides definitions, guidance and best practice examples on how departments should calculate and report efficiency savings to the Treasury. The Treasury expects departments to adopt the Framework for reporting efficiency savings for the financial year 2023–24 and arm’s-length bodies to do so in 2024–25. This, however, will be different to the process for identifying and reporting efficiency savings achieved by the functions.28 We asked the Treasury what progress it had made in implementing the new framework. The Treasury told us that it had instructed departments that they must comply with the framework, but the real test would be when it started to ask departments for their reports using the new Framework in 2024.29 The Cabinet Office expected that the introduction of the Framework would make “the most enormous difference to the value of savings that we capture, and will enable reporting to a really good standard”.30 The Treasury told us that one of the main reasons for producing the Efficiency Framework was because it didn’t have “consistent, comparable, bottom-up information for every single department”. It explained that the Framework would allow it to stress-test and benchmark the savings being achieved between departments and between functions.31
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation, stating the Government Efficiency Framework (GEF) was published in July 2023 and its reporting is currently being rolled out across government. HMT will learn lessons from pilot reporting and iterate requirements with departments, focusing on efficiencies as defined within the framework.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented. 1.2 In July 2023, HM Treasury (HMT) published the Government Efficiency Framework (GEF). The framework sets common standards for the defining, collecting, and reporting of data on efficiency savings. 1.3 The GEF reporting is currently being rolled out across government, and HMT will look to learn lessons from the first round of pilot reporting requirements, including the scope of reporting, and will look to iterate these requirements with departments. Efficiencies, as defined within the framework, will be the focus of reporting as opposed to non-efficiency savings.