Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
58th Report - Government services: Identifying costs
Public Accounts Committee
HC 1421
Published 12 December 2025
Conclusions (2)
6
Conclusion
Not Addressed
Responsibility for holding departments to account for improving their cost information is joint between the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. The Cabinet Office sets the overall performance management framework expectations, including financial minimum standards.6 However, it does not systematically enforce compliance, relying instead on departments and internal auditors. HM Treasury’s …
Government Response Summary
The government repeats the response from ID 2039, which does not address the specific observation of the committee.
17
Conclusion
Not Addressed
It is difficult for departments to gain a full view of the end-to-end costs of a service where there is no Single Service Owner (SSO) with overall mandate and responsibility for the service concerned.41 This also weakens the incentives to identify and reduce costs overall, because the focus is on …
Government Response Summary
The government repeats the response from ID 2050, which does not address the specific observation of the committee.