Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 27
27
Accepted
Treasury expects departments to evaluate material policies, supported by Evaluation Taskforce for quality assurance.
Recommendation
We have repeatedly raised the need and importance of evaluating the impact of funding provided as part of the measures introduced by government during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Treasury told us that it had undertaken interim evaluations of the schemes that it was responsible for, and that its expectation was that all Accounting Officers undertake evaluations of “material policy”.47 It explained that the Treasury and the Cabinet Office had written to all Departmental accounting officers to make clear that they are expected to undertake evaluations and that they will be checking that Departments have undertaken the evaluation of major policies in the way that is intended. We asked the Treasury how it would ensure and monitor that the standard of evaluations. Our attention was drawn both to the Evaluation Task Force, which was established to set the standard for evaluation and provide support Departments. It explained that the intention was for the Evaluation Taskforce to make sure that “we are driving better lessons learned about how we do good evaluation across Government, as we all as providing some resources”. It further explained that the Evaluation Taskforce would hold Departments to account for the quality of their evaluations. The Treasury emphasised that evaluations will be published.48 Thematic Data Collection
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the importance of evaluating COVID schemes and commits to providing a list of relevant evaluations in a single compendium by July 2024 and an update in April on an exercise to distil lessons from pandemic business support.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.4 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2024 4.5 HM Treasury sees the value in evaluating the success of COVID schemes in achieving policy aims and remains committed to learning and sharing lessons from the response to the pandemic. 4.6 The government has written to the Committee regularly over the last four years explaining where improvements to processes can and have been made. For example, the government's response to recommendation 1 of the Committee's Forty-Sixth Report of Session 2021-22 provided an update on the steps taken to bolster the department’s approach to risk management, including the creation of a Risk Management Strategy and Delivery Plan. 4.7 The then Chief Secretary also wrote to the Treasury Select Committee on 1 April 2021, copied to the Chair of the PAC, explaining the lessons learned by the department, on how responding to the pandemic required the department to administer the spending control framework more flexibly than during ‘normal’ times. HM Treasury continues to refine the spending framework annually to ensure it remains fit for purpose. 4.8 HM Treasury sees the value in bringing together evaluations of COVID schemes, including completed and in-flight evaluations, into a single compendium. HMT is content to provide a list of relevant evaluations in July 2024. 4.9 Separately, HM Treasury has committed to carry out an exercise to distil lessons from the experience of supporting businesses through the pandemic, drawing on existing evaluations and reports, and where relevant including cross-cutting lessons to learn. HM Treasury will provide the Committee with an update on its progress in April.