Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 23
23
Rejected
Non-publication of Outcome Delivery Plans hinders public tracking of cross-government outcomes.
Conclusion
In 2022, the Government said that it was focusing on producing ODPs for 2023–24 rather than the plans for 2022–23 which it would cover retrospectively in the 2022–23 Annual Reports and Accounts. For 2023–24 departments will not be required to publish their ODPs.49 We challenged HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office on the difficulties for citizens of tracking cross-government outcomes, such as obesity or drugs policies, under these arrangements. The Cabinet Office told us that the decision on whether to publish ODPs was taken by Ministers but that it plans to continue using unpublished ODPs to assess performance internally.50 HM Treasury told us that departments need to be transparent about their performance and it still required reporting in annual report and accounts about the performance of government departments for the current year.51 48 C&AG’s Report, paras 5, 9, 1.9 49 Q80; Letter from HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office to William Wragg MP, Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, 6 July 2023 50 Qq 79, 80 51 Q 75 Cross-government working 13
Government Response Summary
The government reiterates the ministerial decision that departments will only produce internal Outcome Delivery Plans for 2023-24, effectively rejecting the implied need for public transparency, but commits to writing to the committee with an update by the end of May.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
Ministers set out their position in the joint letter, dated 6 July 2023, to the Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, in that departments would only be producing internal ODPs for 2023-24. HM Treasury and Cabinet Office will write to the committee with an update by end of May.