Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Fifteenth Report - Managing government borrowing
Public Accounts Committee
HC 74
Published 5 March 2024
Recommendations
4
Acknowledged
Set out key milestones and contingency plans to prevent further Rainbow Programme delays.
Recommendation
We are concerned that significant problems with NS&I’s procurement of its Rainbow Programme could leave limited flexibility or room for further delays. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Treasury required NS&I to raise £35 billion from retail savers – more than …
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Government Response Summary
The government agreed, stating NS&I is working to formulate an integrated transition plan with key project milestones for its Rainbow Programme, which will be shared with the Committee when finalised. Expected costs for extending the Atos contract would be agreed upon extension, and contingency plans are commercially sensitive.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (4)
3
Conclusion
Acknowledged
The Treasury and the DMO lack the information needed to better identify unlawful activity and understand the risks posed by overseas investors, potentially reducing the value for money from future gilt sales. In May 2023, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisionally found that, between 2009 and 2013, five major …
Government Response Summary
The government agreed but stated it currently lacks visibility of underlying gilt owners. It committed to reviewing sovereign bond ownership data from other countries to learn from their approaches, rather than detailing immediate steps to address information gaps or change gilt selling processes.
17
Conclusion
Acknowledged
We asked the Treasury about the impact of the announcement of the government’s September 2022 Growth Plan (or “mini-budget”) on the cost of government borrowing. The Treasury explained that in the aftermath of the mini-budget, it required the DMO to raise an additional £72 billion. It added that markets were …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the committee's findings regarding the mini-budget's market impact, stating it is committed to learning lessons from previous crisis episodes and has established projects to enhance preparedness for future financial stability events.
18
Conclusion
Acknowledged
In 2020–21, during the pandemic, the Treasury required NS&I to raise £35 billion from retail savers, which was nearly a sixfold increase in its original remit for that year. Since 2003–04, NS&I has only raised more than £15 billion on one occasion, which was in 2014–15 when it raised £18.2 …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the committee's observations on NS&I's pandemic performance, stating it is learning lessons from crisis episodes and NS&I’s transformation programme will deliver the necessary systems scalability and robustness.
19
Conclusion
Acknowledged
However, the Rainbow Programme is already behind schedule. NS&I’s contract with Atos was due to expire in 2024, but delays to the Rainbow Programme resulted in NS&I extending the contract until April 2025. We asked NS&I about the reasons for this delay. In response, NS&I explained that one particular procurement …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the committee's findings on the Rainbow Programme delays, stating it is working with new providers to formulate an integrated transition plan and improve governance, which it will share with the Committee upon completion.