Major Project Scope Uncertainty

#18 —

Work and Pensions Committee

Recommendation: The government should set out a clear commitment to the long-term future of the programme beyond the current Spending Review period. This should include a written statement of intent confirming that the programme is 35 expected to continue, providing local …

Response Pending

#17 —

Work and Pensions Committee

Recommendation: We welcome DWP’s intention to fund Connect to Work beyond the Spending Review period. It is encouraging that, as the programme was conceived from the outset as a multi-year intervention, early actions indicate a commitment to continuity. It is important …

Response Pending

#17 —

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The Department said that it was still awarding contracts, guided by the SDR, despite the delayed publication of the DIP. However, it acknowledged that the delay was having an adverse impact on industry. The Department acknowledged that serial delays were …

Response Pending

#10 —

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The DNE is a large, complicated portfolio, to which new programmes are added and others are growing. The Department said that it was re- establishing its capability to produce nuclear fuel, and that there have been changes in the scope …

Response Pending

#52 —

Science, Innovation and Technology Committee

Recommendation: Uncertainty over the eventual cost of the digital ID scheme make it impossible to take an informed view on whether it will prove a worthwhile undertaking, even if the operational and security challenges examined in this report were to be …

Response Pending

#21 —

Science, Innovation and Technology Committee

Recommendation: The government is right to highlight the potential for technology to support better public service delivery. But its estimate that the digitisation of public services could deliver an annual saving of £45 billion is worryingly optimistic. While assumptions are an …

Response Pending

#2 —

International Development Committee

Recommendation: While merging departments may seem attractive short-term, with improved policy coherence and possible administrative savings, they can be extremely costly and disruptive and impair organisational effectiveness. In the long run, the creation of the FCDO could reduce the UK’s influence …

Gov response: As the Foreign Secretary stated in Parliament on 8 September, “The creation of the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office today is a key moment: a key moment for our vision of a truly global …

Under Consideration

#1 —

International Development Committee

Recommendation: Reorganising departments is not easy. In our view, the decision to merge the FCO and DFID into a new international department, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), is flawed on a number of grounds: • The decision was taken …

Gov response: Both the Integrated Review and the merger of FCO and DFID are evidence of the Prime Minister’s commitment to a unified British foreign policy that will maximise our influence around the world. A great deal …

Under Consideration

#1 —

Foreign Affairs Committee

Recommendation: Given the gap between the merger and the reporting date of the Integrated Review, the FCDO risks operating for months without clear strategic direction, which will be compounded by the likely productivity dips which follow departmental mergers. The FCDO is …

Gov response: As the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office sets its new priorities, it will be essential to draw on the outcomes of the Integrated Review and Comprehensive Spending Review to shape the objectives and systems …

Under Consideration

#21 —

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Recommendation: Project data should be reported in ranges, which reflect quantified risks to costs and timescales. The IPA should start reporting ranges for any newly-approved projects immediately, and HM Treasury should state an expectation that projects going through Treasury Approval Processes …

Gov response: Government’s aim is to ensure projects are not locked into unrealistic point estimates when announcements are made, and projects use ranges when presenting costs and schedules. This was requested in the last quarterly Government Major …

Under Consideration

#11 —

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Recommendation: If the Government wants to invest in areas of slower economic growth, including the North, regions and rural areas, it needs to be clear on the objectives of that investment, and set a framework for departments to appraise that investment …

Gov response: A revised Green Book will be published at Spending Review (SR) following the review which is looking into, for example, Benefit Cost Ratios, the current appraisal strategy and aspects of the five case model. HMT …

Under Consideration

#9 —

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Recommendation: The Government must also reconsider what infrastructure will be needed in coming years, reflecting on the experience of Coronavirus. For example, if more jobs will move to home working, whether this might create a greater need for faster broadband rather …

Gov response: The NIS will set out the government’s long-term infrastructure ambitions based on the current economic context. The Treasury will ensure that the Committee receives a copy of the NIS when it is published later this …

Under Consideration

#8 —

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Recommendation: Government should prioritise understanding local needs. Fully populated local needs assessments should be published when projects are announced to demonstrate the purpose of such projects. The IPA should require these assessments as part of the documentation for projects in the …

Gov response: benefits a project or a programme will deliver. As part of the Green Book methodology, the Government seeks to identify the option most likely to offer the best social value against the Government’s objectives. This …

Under Consideration

#7 —

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Recommendation: It is clear from the evidence submitted to this inquiry that Government infrastructure projects are progressed before due consideration is given to how they will address local needs. This practice increases the risk of infrastructure not addressing local needs, and …

Gov response: some time and Public Consultation was stipulated in the Localism Act 2011 and referenced in the Planning Act 1990. On the 6 August the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) launched a consultation, …

Under Consideration

#4 —

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Recommendation: The Government must be clear on what it means by “levelling up” if it is to plan projects which lead to “levelling up” and measure progress against them. The Committee expects that the infrastructure strategy will be clear on what …

Gov response: Government believes that infrastructure is central to our economic strategy. Along with the Spending Review, the National Infrastructure Strategy was delayed to later this year to ensure that HM Treasury and departments could remain focused …

Under Consideration

#3 —

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Recommendation: The Government should publish its infrastructure strategy as soon as possible, and certainly before it starts spending large amounts of money on infrastructure. The plan must clearly link the Government’s objectives for the economy and the planed infrastructure investment. It …

Gov response: Government believes that infrastructure is central to our economic strategy. Along with the Spending Review, the National Infrastructure Strategy was delayed to later this year to ensure that HM Treasury and departments could remain focused …

Under Consideration

#2 —

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Recommendation: The overall framework for this investment should be provided by the National Infrastructure Strategy, but this is significantly delayed and has yet to be published. The Government is keen to spend money quickly as part of the Coronavirus “bounce back” …

Gov response: This Government’s levelling up agenda will spread opportunity to every region and nation of the UK; ensuring everyone benefits from growth in the UK. It targets the long-standing economic and social disparities across the country, …

Under Consideration

#1 —

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Recommendation: The Government has committed to the largest investment in infrastructure in decades, which it believes has the potential to support a fairer and more equitable national economy. However, there is also great potential to waste this money on “white elephant” …

Gov response: This Government’s levelling up agenda will spread opportunity to every region and nation of the UK; ensuring everyone benefits from growth in the UK. It targets the long-standing economic and social disparities across the country, …

Under Consideration

#25 —

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The demand for resources to inspect and remediate buildings with safety concerns is already high and set to increase with the new £1 billion Building Safety Fund. The Department estimates there to be around 1,700 buildings with unsafe non-ACM cladding …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: December 2020 3.2 From the outset of the programme, the department has engaged industry to ensure sufficient capacity exists to meet demand and to have …

Not Addressed

#9 —

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The Department intends for the £1 billion Building Safety Fund for non-ACM cladding to be committed in full by the end of the 2020–21 financial year. The National Audit Office has suggested that this timetable would pose potentially significant challenges …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: December 2020 3.2 From the outset of the programme, the department has engaged industry to ensure sufficient capacity exists to meet demand and to have …

Not Addressed

#23 —

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The Department told us that it has high hopes for its modernisation and transformation projects. However, the NAO reported that the Department agrees funding for its transformation projects on an annual basis, and their longer-term development is therefore uncertain.64 We …

Gov response: 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Ta rget implementation date: March 2021 2.2 The department’s priority is to ensure that the collection, use and analysis of data support the effective delivery of public …

Not Addressed

#2 — DHSC and NHSE show lack of readiness for radical, long-term NHS financial transformation.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: Despite having last published a plan in January 2019, and the major disruption caused by Covid to the NHS since, DHSC and NHSE are yet to recognise the scale of transformation needed to make the NHS financially sustainable. The Government’s …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. principles set out in ‘Consolidated Budgeting Guidance’ and in agreement with HM Treasury, to meet financial pressures and protect frontline care. The fiscal rules set out by the …

Accepted

#8 — Significant risks and unproven technology hinder successful CCUS implementation at commercial scale

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: Significant risks to the successful implementation of CCUS technology remain. There are still no CCUS plants operating at a commercial scale in the UK and the technology is unproven at the scale being planned.20 For example, written evidence we received …

Gov response: 1. PAC conclusion: The Department is taking a high–risk approach by backing first– of–a–kind, unproven technologies with large amounts of taxpayer and consumer funding. 1. PAC recommendation: The Department should, as the projects it is …

Accepted

#50 — Clear project scope definition essential to prevent cost escalation in infrastructure plans

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The Department reflected that a key lesson from the experience of HS2, and which needs to inform all the Department’s future infrastructure plans, is that the Department needs to be very clear when it sets out on a large project …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2025 The department is committed to learning lessons on the programme and has worked closely with HM Treasury and the National Infrastructure and Service …

Accepted

#44 — West Coast Main Line capacity challenge expected by late 2030s due to HS2 changes

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The Department acknowledged the capacity challenge on the West Coast Main Line as a consequence of not building Phase 2, estimating that it will reach capacity by the late 2030s. These capacity concerns were also raised with us in evidence …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2025 Preparatory work on a disposal programme for Phase 2 is already underway. As part of these preparations, the department is undertaking a review …

Not Addressed

#43 — Phase 2 cancellation limits HS2 capacity benefits to London-Birmingham route

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The HS2 programme was originally intended to improve capacity on the West Coast Main Line. However, with the cancellation of Phase 2, the revised programme will only address capacity between London and Birmingham. The Department is exploring options to run …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2025 Preparatory work on a disposal programme for Phase 2 is already underway. As part of these preparations, the department is undertaking a review …

Not Addressed

#40 — Full disposal of HS2 surplus land dependent on future rail strategy decisions

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: However, the Department told us that overall decisions need to be made on future rail investment first. It explained that the government’s long– term strategy being developed for strategic rail investment, including on improvements to rail connectivity in the north …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2025 Preparatory work on a disposal programme for Phase 2 is already underway. As part of these preparations, the department is undertaking a review …

Not Addressed

#39 — Department developing programme for disposing of HS2 surplus land and property

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: In February 2024, the previous Public Accounts Committee stressed the need for the Department and HS2 Ltd to develop a strategy for the disposal of land and property, and to balance the need for value for money for the taxpayer …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2025 Preparatory work on a disposal programme for Phase 2 is already underway. As part of these preparations, the department is undertaking a review …

Accepted

#38 — HS2 Ltd spent £592 million on land for cancelled Phase 2 route

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: Up to the end of March 2024, HS2 Ltd had spent £3.7 billion on buying land and property along the HS2 route, of which £592 million relates to the cancelled Phase 2.66 The types of land and property include agricultural, …

Gov response: 7.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2025 7.2 Preparatory work on a disposal programme for Phase 2 is already underway. As part of these preparations, the department is undertaking …

Accepted

#31 — Expanded Euston programme scope includes commercial development, housing, and station redevelopments.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: In the October 2023 announcement, the government at the time set out that the HS2 station itself would be planned to be smaller, reflecting the lower number of train services expected to operate following the cancellation of Phase 2. However, …

Gov response: 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2025 6.2 The department’s next six-monthly update to Parliament is expected to be published in Summer 2025 and will include an update on …

Not Addressed

#6 — Update Parliament on HS2 Euston progress, funding, risk management, and costs

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The Department’s plans for Euston carry huge risks given the uncertainties about its scope, cost, funding, schedule and delivery model. In the 2024 Autumn budget, the government confirmed that HS2 would terminate at London Euston rather than Old Oak Common …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. in Summer 2025 and will include an update on progress on Euston. The department is also responding to the Committee’s letter of 6 March 2025 requesting an update …

Accepted

#7 — Ministry of Justice's new prison delivery plans were over-ambitious and unrealistic

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: In 2021, MoJ had planned to deliver three of its new prisons by 2026, despite having no planning permission in place.18 It also told us it factored in just 26 weeks to gain approvals, even though sites were not earmarked …

Gov response: 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented: April 2025 2.2 The 20,000 prison place programmes undertook a robust re-baselining exercise between December 2023 and December 2024. The process used Quantitative Schedule Risk …

Accepted

#2 — Outline realistic plans for delivering 14,000 prison places, managing risks and gaining permission.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: MoJ’s and HMPPS’s plans to deliver the remaining 14,000 places by 2031 are still fraught with risk and uncertainty. MoJ and HMPPS acknowledge that they have not delivered prison places on time. We accept that they faced several challenges expanding …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. between December 2023 and December 2024. The process used Quantitative Schedule Risk Analysis alongside Reference Class Forecasting methodology to gain additional assurance. Lessons learned are being applied as …

Accepted

#36 — MHCLG's building remediation number estimates remain outdated and highly questionable.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: In written evidence, the Home Builders’ Federation (HBF) was very sceptical about the basis of MHCLG’s estimates of building numbers and the lack of any updates. It told us that MHCLG’s estimate of the likely number of buildings in need …

Gov response: 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2025 5.2 The government will publish latest building number estimates by the summer. The exact timing of publication of estimates of costs and …

Partially Accepted

#12 — MHCLG's remediation plan lacks sufficient scope and fails to address critical issues.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: End Our Cladding Scandal (EOCS) told us it was not confident that MHCLG’s Plan would deliver for residents. It explained that too many barriers and issues remained, that MHCLG’s 2029 target was still five long years away and that it …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2025 The government is working to publish an update of the Remediation Acceleration Plan in Summer 2025; however, this is dependent on the outcome …

Accepted

#21 — Government lacks understanding of future studio space needs and business rates impact.

Culture, Media and Sport Committee

Recommendation: It is concerning that the Government does not know how much additional studio space the UK will need to support both inward investment and domestic production in the years ahead. Recent business rates revaluations also risked devastating inward investment in …

Gov response: The government is transforming business rates over the course of this Parliament, co-designing a fairer system with stakeholders including those in the creative sectors. We have already introduced a 40% reduction on business rates for …

Partially Accepted

#25 — Uncertainty surrounds government plans for smaller biomass generators to convert to BECCS after 2027.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: While much of the debate around biomass has focused on Drax, we received several written submissions outlining the important role played by smaller biomass generators in the UK. There are at present 54 regional biomass power stations that are primarily …

Gov response: 5.5 However, smaller-scale biomass generators can continue to be supplied by a variety of domestically sourced feedstock including wood waste, poultry litter and agricultural waste. These waste feedstocks provide a reliable source of domestic biomass …

Not Addressed

#24 — Initial BECCS plant target of 2030 will not be met, future support unclear.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The government had initially planned for BECCS plant to begin operating at scale in 2030 as part of its broader CCUS programme.68 However, as the first phase of the CCUS programme (known as Track 1) does not include a BECCS …

Gov response: 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2025 4.2 The department’s analysis suggests power BECCS technologies are part of a cost- effective pathway to meeting the UK’s climate change targets. …

Not Addressed

#9 — Ask DEFRA to clarify Marine Spatial Prioritisation Programme objectives and timeline for outputs

Environmental Audit Committee

Recommendation: We ask the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to clarify the objectives and planned timeline for outputs from the Marine Spatial Prioritisation Programme and explain how it contributes to the Department’s aims for “clean, healthy, safe, productive …

Gov response: The MSPri programme supports the goal of achieving “clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas” through developing a more strategic approach to the use of sea space, with key consideration for needs …

Partially Accepted

#8 — Confusion surrounds delivery timeline and methods for Marine Spatial Prioritisation Programme

Environmental Audit Committee

Recommendation: Clear and strategic spatial planning direction from the Government is necessary to guide decision-making, minimise conflicts, and ensure that marine space is allocated in a way that supports both environmental recovery and sustainable economic development. The Government’s proposed Marine Spatial …

Gov response: The MSPri programme supports the goal of achieving “clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas” and does so through developing a more strategic approach to the use of sea space. Key consideration …

Not Addressed

#30 — Multiple complex local government reforms and reorganisation are happening simultaneously.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: Given the range of proposed reforms as well as local government reorganisation, we pressed MHCLG on the timing and sequencing. MHCLG responded that “it is all happening at once”.84 It accepted that funding reform plans may need to be adapted …

Gov response: 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: by the end of 2025, as part of the upcoming multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement. 2.2 On 20 June 2025, the government published the …

Accepted

#6 — Set out detailed timetable of local government finance reforms, implementation plans, and transitional arrangements.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: There is significant uncertainty around how the proposed local government finance reforms and reorganisation will be implemented. Long standing plans for funding and service reforms have been delayed several times. The government has now announced a huge reform agenda for …

Gov response: The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Council tax levels are always decided by local authorities. It is true that over time councils have generated comparatively more of their income from council tax rather than …

Not Accepted

#27 — Department declined to publish 2024 Equipment Plan due to ongoing spending plan uncertainty.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: In November 2024, the Minister for Defence Procurement & Industry wrote to the Chair to say that the Department would not publish a Plan for 2024 because “it would not provide an accurate reflection of this Government’s spending plans and …

Gov response: 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2025 5.2 The DIP, to be published in Autumn 2025, and its future iterations will allow the Committee to thoroughly scrutinise the department’s …

Accepted

#24 — Department is still determining investment priorities for increased defence spending until late 2025.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: In March 2025, the government announced that it will increase defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product from April 2027.48 However, the Department told us it is only midway through the process of deciding how to invest the additional …

Gov response: Introduction from the Committee Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has contributed to making the world more unstable. In response, the UK Government has confirmed in its Spending Review on 11 June that …

Not Addressed

#4 — Provide Committee with updates on Strategic Defence Review implementation progress by end of 2025.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The Strategic Defence Review (the SDR) has set out the government’s high-level policy and capability ambitions, but the Department will need to complete further work to prioritise what it must do to achieve them. The government launched the SDR in …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 62 recommendations. The implementation of the Review’s recommendations will form part of the main business of the department and will be executed through a whole of UK Defence …

Accepted

#28 — Department lacks specific objectives for Industrial Strategy despite setting a growth target.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: We asked the Department how it would measure success. Officials told us growth was its overarching objective as measured by GDP per head and real household disposable income. The Department highlighted that trade-offs were required under an industrial strategy and …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented. The government has committed to regularly reviewing progress against the Industrial Strategy. As above, implementation is a government-wide effort, underpinned by shared objectives and metrics. This …

Accepted

#26 — Department unable to detail Industrial Strategy's future funding and scope currently.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: We asked the Department what the forthcoming Industrial Strategy will mean for the scale and composition of its support for industry going forward. The Department told us it was preparing for an upcoming spending review and therefore could not provide …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented. The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy was published alongside the Spending Review and its priorities are embedded in departmental budgets for the remainder of this Parliament. Each …

Accepted

#6 — Update Committee on Industrial Strategy adaptation and metrics for measuring its success.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: It is essential that the government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy has clear measures of success and effective processes for monitoring and evaluation. The government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy is central to its economic growth mission. The Department is placing great emphasis on …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented The government has committed to regularly reviewing progress against the Industrial Strategy. As above, implementation is a government-wide effort, underpinned by shared objectives and metrics. This …

Accepted

#10 — Ongoing uncertainty in Horizon schemes over claimant numbers and complex claim values.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The Department told us that it is confident the level of uncertainty over the number of potential claimants in HSS will reduce over the 2025–26 financial year. The uncertainty over the number of potential claimants within the HSS was a …

Gov response: 1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2025 1.2 The Department for Business and Trade (the department) is working with the Post Office to finalise letters to be sent to …

Accepted

#21 — T Levels' anticipated benefits remain uncertain due to their early stage.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The Department has identified four potential benefits associated with T Levels – progression to further study or skilled employment; students’ readiness for their chosen career; higher earnings than those studying other level 3 qualifications; and employers’ confidence in T Level …

Not Addressed