Select committee: Public Accounts Committee

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Eleventh report from Session 2024-25

Published 16 May 2025

At a glance

The government's response

This is the government's response, published 16 May 2025.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government agrees with each of the Committee's recommendations on the 2023-24 excesses and states that each has been implemented, in March 2025.

On the excesses at the Electoral Commission, Ofqual and the Department for Business and Trade, the excess votes were included in the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Act 2025, which "received Royal Assent on 11 March 2025".
The Electoral Commission attributes its overspend to an error in a technical accounting judgement relating to IFRS 16 on new leases, and says it has increased finance team capacity, updated processes and provided additional training.
On IFRS 16 guidance, HM Treasury says it linked guidance in the 2025-26 Main Estimates technical paper, and has "committed" to its Financial Reporting Advisory Board that it will do a post implementation review of IFRS 16 for central government.
On the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, the Department for Business and Trade says evidence supporting the reasonableness of cost estimates "will be disclosed as part of the department's annual report and accounts (ARA) for 2024-25", and notes "considerable uncertainty" over total costs.

This is a government response document, so it has no recommendations of its own.