Value for money strategy

NAO recommendation

90match

A planning and spending framework that enables long-term value for money

Parliament expects to be able to hold the government to account for its delivery of value for taxpayers? money. To do so, Parliament needs timely, complete and transparent information on the government?s objectives, business planning, funding allocations, performance against objectives, spending, and outcome evaluations. The government should inform Parliament what changes it will make to achieve this from...

Matched on terms: money, value

Committee recommendation

77match

#21 - 1st Report - Investing in the UK economy

Business and Trade Committee

We recommend that the new Value for Money framework being developed by the Department for Work and Pensions, Financial Conduct Authority and The Pensions Regulator explicitly consider including formal measures designed to ensure greater investment into productive UK assets, supporting the Government’s growth mission. (Recommendation, Paragraph 83)

Matched on terms: money, value

Committee recommendation

77match

#5 - Twelfth Report: Management of tax reliefs

Public Accounts Committee

HMRC and HM Treasury do not publish sufficient information on the value for money of tax reliefs to enable Parliament to hold government to account. In response to examinations by this Committee, HMRC now publishes a list of all tax reliefs which support government objectives, and now reports costs for 158 of these reliefs, up from 46 in...

Matched on terms: money, value

NAO recommendation

77match

Increasing the capacity of the prison estate to meet demand

MoJ should combine thinking on policy objectives for the prison estate and improved evidence of different approaches to develop a long-term strategy to improve the resilience of the estate. It should: include the rationale for its approach based on value for money, for example, how it will balance the role of maintenance against expansion and how it will...

Matched on terms: money, strategy, value

Inquiry recommendation

74match

RHI-31 - Value for Money Priority

RHI Inquiry

Any imperative to spend a budget within a given timeframe should not be allowed to take precedence over how that budget is used and the longer term benefits and overall value of such expenditure. Ministers, Special Advisers and the Northern Ireland Civil Service all share responsibility for ensuring best practice in the use of taxpayers' money.

Matched on terms: money, value

Committee recommendation

73match

#31 - 6th Report - The Access to Work scheme

Public Accounts Committee

We asked the Department about the value for money of Access to Work, including how the cost compares with other government employment schemes and how it compares with other nations. The Department told us that, while it had not undertaken any quantitative assessment of the scheme’s effectiveness, it did have qualitative evidence.59 It said that the difficulty was...

Matched on terms: money, value

Committee recommendation

73match

#26 - 2nd Report – Affordability of Home Ownership

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

HM Treasury must monitor, and annually publish, the costs of maintenance of the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, as well as the impact that it is having on mortgage rates, to ensure that it remains value for money. These could be included in the official statistics of the scheme, or published separately. If costs of the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme rise...

Matched on terms: money, value

Committee recommendation

73match

#27 - Twelfth Report: Management of tax reliefs

Public Accounts Committee

In 2015, HMRC published a qualitative evaluation of entrepreneurs’ relief but it only interviewed 17 claimants as part of the evaluation.52 In 2017, HMRC published a larger quantitative evaluation of entrepreneurs’ relief which included interviews with 625 claimants. The 2017 evaluation found that at the point they invested, only 8% of claimants had been influenced by the relief.53...

Matched on terms: money, value

NAO recommendation

73match

Dangerous cladding: the government’s remediation portfolio

MHCLG should consider whether there is additional information and data that it could publish about the portfolio that would: enhance the level of transparency for Parliament and the public over portfolio performance ? and therefore whether it is achieving value for taxpayers? money or whether it needs to change approach. For example, it could publish data on the...

Matched on terms: money, value

NAO recommendation

73match

Investigation into the Bounce Back Loan Scheme

The Scheme achieved its initial objective of quickly supporting small businesses, but a lack of more detailed Scheme-specific objectives will make it difficult to measure its ultimate success. Systems and processes have evolved since the Scheme launch but much hard work remains over the coming months and years to ensure that the risks to value for money are...

Matched on terms: money, value

NAO recommendation

72match

Improving the performance of major equipment contracts

f) The Department should pay greater consideration throughout a programme as to whether it remains value for money. Business cases set out whether the proposed option is VFM, but major changes in delivery dates, for example to make the portfolio more affordable in the short-term, and increases in forecast costs, can have a significant impact on whether a...

Matched on terms: money, value

NAO recommendation

72match

DCMS’s management of its COVID-19 loan book

DCMS should: d Set out a strategy for the longer-term evaluation of its loan book. This assessment should include a clear articulation of the standards by which it assesses value for money of its management, including how it will know if the loans have met their objectives and how the loans have interacted with its wider support for...

Matched on terms: money, strategy, value

Committee recommendation

69match

#33 - 6th Report - The Access to Work scheme

Public Accounts Committee

We asked the Department about cost-benefit analysis of the Access to Work scheme relative to other schemes including, if a robust case-controlled study was not possible, whether it had done any sort of modelling.63 We suggested, for example, that, if someone had been refused Access to Work support and was not able to work, the counter might be...

Matched on terms: money, value

Committee recommendation

69match

#30 - 6th Report - The Access to Work scheme

Public Accounts Committee

One of the Department’s principles for awarding Access to Work grants is that any approved support must be value for money.57 However, the Department acknowledges that it does not know whether the scheme provides value for money – it has little evidence on the difference that the funding has made and does not check whether the support was...

Matched on terms: money, value

Committee recommendation

69match

#7 - 6th Report - The Access to Work scheme

Public Accounts Committee

The Department has not done enough to generate evidence on the value for money of the scheme. The Department acknowledges that it does not know whether the scheme provides value for money. It undertook qualitative research some time ago—in 2009 and 2018—to gather the views of individuals and employers. This found that the scheme has a range of...

Matched on terms: money, value

Committee recommendation

69match

#26 - Twelfth Report: Management of tax reliefs

Public Accounts Committee

In our June 2014 report on tax reliefs we concluded that the exchequer departments did not respond promptly to unexpected increases in the costs of reliefs. We found that HMRC took time to react when it noticed a cost increase as it wanted to ensure that its response was appropriate, but that this increased the amount of public...

Matched on terms: money, value

Committee recommendation

69match

#25 - Twelfth Report: Management of tax reliefs

Public Accounts Committee

In March 2015, we concluded that there was inadequate assessment of the value for money of tax reliefs.45 In 2017, HM Treasury began to make assessments of the value for money of tax reliefs and by 2019 had assessed the value for money of 63 tax reliefs.46 We asked HM Treasury how it assessed value for money. It...

Matched on terms: money, value

Committee recommendation

69match

#6 - Twelfth Report: Management of tax reliefs

Public Accounts Committee

HMRC and HM Treasury are far too slow in identifying and responding to some of the most serious problems identified with reliefs, including cases of abuse. In June 2014, we found that the exchequer departments did not respond promptly to unexpected increases in the costs of tax reliefs. In March 2015, we questioned whether entrepreneurs’ relief was value...

Matched on terms: money, value

NAO recommendation

69match

The management of tax expenditures

e) establish and document clear requirements for officials to report concerns about the value for money of tax expenditures to ministers, for example by specifying accountability arrangements.

Matched on terms: money, value

NAO recommendation

68match

The decommissioning of the AGR nuclear power stations

The Department should ensure that the NDA and Magnox Ltd have a clear plan for delivering value for money in the period post-transfer, taking advantage of any efficiencies to be realised from the combined AGR and Magnox fleets. The Department should agree performance metrics based on the plans and hold NDA and Magnox Ltd to account for delivery.

Matched on terms: money, value

NAO recommendation

64match

Network Rail’s sale of railway arches

The selling department should consider and document on a timely basis whether contracting with the new owners in areas such as future investment plans and explicit customer protections provides value for money.

Matched on terms: money, value

Committee recommendation

61match

#9 - 7th Report - Financial resilience of government-sponsored museums and galleries

Public Accounts Committee

We asked the Department whether its usual approach of flat rate annual increases in museums’ and galleries’ funding at the start of the year, with additional top-ups later for those in financial trouble, provided the museums and galleries with insufficient incentive to maximise self-generated income or operate efficiently.21 The Department replied that this approach did provide sufficient incentive...

Matched on terms: money

Committee recommendation

61match

#7 - 7th Report - Financial resilience of government-sponsored museums and galleries

Public Accounts Committee

Grant-in-aid from the Department forms a significant proportion of the total income of the sponsored museums and galleries. It was, for example, an average of 46% of total income in 2024–25.13 We therefore asked whether the provision of grant-in-aid meant there was any incentive for the museums and galleries to do better in terms of generating their own...

Matched on terms: money

NAO recommendation

60match

Teacher workforce: secondary and further education

DfE should, as part of its thinking around meeting the 6,500 pledge, fully assess, balance and manage the implications for value for money, affordability, responding to future teaching requirements and demographics, and the extent to which it can deliver its longer-term aims.

Matched on terms: money, value

NAO recommendation

60match

Investigation into student finance for study at franchised higher education providers

explicitly consider the inherent risks associated with using franchised providers, and the extent to which they represent value for money, setting out how it will manage these risks. This should include consideration of both its risk exposure across the higher education sector and the benefits franchised providers can generate by broadening higher education participation

Matched on terms: money, value

NAO recommendation

60match

Regulating the financial sustainability of higher education providers in England

g) prioritise finalising its key performance indicator on how it assesses the value for money students see in their education and set out how its work will reverse students’ declining satisfaction rates.

Matched on terms: money, value

NAO recommendation

60match

Financial sustainability of colleges in England

In light of our findings and the fact that more colleges are expected to face financial difficulties following the COVID-19 pandemic, we recommend that the Department and the ESFA should take the following actions: a) Set out a clear vision for the role, structure and funding of the college sector as part of the long-term reform programme. The...

Matched on terms: strategy

PFD report

57match

Jessica Baker

Oct 2023 · Liverpool and Wirral

Concerns exist regarding the lack of clear government advice to schools on seatbelt use in commuter coaches and insufficient public information campaigns promoting seatbelt safety for children.

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

57match

#5 - 4th Report - Regulating for growth

Public Accounts Committee

HM Treasury and DBT do not have a robust plan to achieve the 25% reduction in the administrative burden. In the absence of individual targets for departments and regulators, the Unit relies on departmental annual simplification plans to monitor progress against the target. The Unit intends to publish analysis of the first set of these plans in spring...

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

57match

#34 - 6th Report - The Access to Work scheme

Public Accounts Committee

The Department told us that it was “quite unlikely” that the scheme paid for itself fiscally, but it did not know that for certain. It explained that, from an Accounting Officer’s point of view, the value of the scheme was over and above the fiscal and economic considerations – it was about the scheme’s benefits to society and...

Matched on terms: value

Committee recommendation

57match

#9 - 1st Report - Investing in the UK economy

Business and Trade Committee

We are disappointed that progress reports for the Industrial Strategy do not feature a proper performance measurement framework that allows us to measure progress. (Conclusion, Paragraph 41)

Matched on terms: strategy

Committee recommendation

57match

#13 - Fourth Report - Effectiveness of UK aid: potential impact of FCO/DFID merger

International Development Committee

Multilateral spending forms an important part of the UK’s ODA, but we are concerned that the merger may lead to an increase in funds provided to these organisations for generalised future spending rather than targeted funds delivering immediate benefits. As part of the Integrated Review, the Government should set out its strategy for development spending through multilateral institutions...

Matched on terms: strategy

Committee recommendation

57match

#29 - Twelfth Report: Management of tax reliefs

Public Accounts Committee

The cap was due to be introduced in April 2020, which would have given companies until 2022–23 to make claims under existing rules. HMRC estimated that the proposed changes would have saved the Exchequer around £45 million a year. However, at the 2020 Budget the government announced that it would change the design of its proposed cap to...

Matched on terms: money

Committee recommendation

57match

#3 - Twelfth Report: Management of tax reliefs

Public Accounts Committee

The exchequer departments are not transparent with Parliament on which tax reliefs need to change taxpayer behaviour for government objectives to be achieved. Tax reliefs that are designed to change behaviour require more attention 6 Management of tax reliefs than those which are intended to simply benefit a specific group because it is uncertain how taxpayers respond to...

Matched on classifier match

NAO recommendation

56match

Government Shared Services

d) The Cabinet Office should ensure that future strategies that propose similar transformational change are supported by a full business case. It should revisit and update the ?case for change? to make this a more comprehensive assessment of the costs and benefits of the strategy, working with departments to ensure benefits are calculated consistently

Matched on terms: strategy

Committee recommendation

53match

#15 - 5th Report - MoD follow-up Spring 2026

Public Accounts Committee

The Department’s goal is not just to stimulate the domestic market, but also to help UK industry benefit from the expanding international market for defence equipment. The Department has established an export team designed to ensure that it buys equipment which is not just suitable for the UK’s Armed Forces, but also for our NATO allies and other...

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

53match

#9 - Twelfth Report: Management of tax reliefs

Public Accounts Committee

Evaluations typically cost between £50,000 and £250,000. The NAO estimated that HMRC had spent around £2 million on evaluating tax reliefs since 2015. HMRC has an annual central research budget of £2 million per year to fund evaluations of tax reliefs and other research to inform its wider business and HM Treasury priorities.14 We asked HMRC why it...

Matched on terms: value

Committee recommendation

53match

#7 - Twelfth Report: Management of tax reliefs

Public Accounts Committee

We were dissatisfied at the fact that none of the ten largest tax reliefs had been properly externally reviewed by HMRC.10 We asked HMRC why it had not evaluated any of these reliefs, such as pension reliefs. HMRC explained that cost was only one factor it took into account in selecting which reliefs to evaluate. It told us...

Matched on terms: money

NAO recommendation

52match

Regulation of private renting

The Department is planning to introduce reforms to the private rented sector and our recommendations are aimed at supporting this process. The Department should do the following: a) Define an overall vision and strategy for the regulation of private renting. This should include consideration of how the sector should be regulated and how it is affected by other...

Matched on terms: strategy

HMICFRS recommendation

51match

FRS 2021-22 CoC Recommendations: North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Recommendation

Cause of concern: The service doesn’t have in place robust processes to ensure transformation activities provide efficiency and effectiveness. Recommendation: By September 2022, the service should put in place plans that are designed to monitor, review and evaluate its collaboration activities, such as enabling services, to make sure they achieve best value for money and are beneficial for...

Matched on terms: money, value

IMB recommendation

51match

East Sutton Park (2022)

To continue to ensure that residents coming to ESP have enough time left to serve, to ensure that the greatest benefit in resettlement can be achieved, and therefore representing value for money.

Matched on terms: money, value

PFD report

49match

Joanne Oliver

Apr 2014 · Manchester City

A severe lack of national guidance for critical patient transfer decisions results in insufficient risk assessment protocols covering patient fitness, staff seniority, journey logistics, and post-transfer care.

Matched on classifier match

PFD report

49match

Isa Mushtaq

Sep 2014 · Manchester (City)

A critical lack of detailed national guidance for antepartum CTG assessment, interpretation, and intervention, leading to inconsistent and potentially unsafe management of high-risk pregnancies.

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

49match

#16 - 1st Report – Employment support for disabled people: Connect to Work

Work and Pensions Committee

In response to this report, the government should clearly set out how it has applied proportional and effective financial management to maximise the use of allocated resources across financial years. Additionally, this should include a detailed explanation of its consideration of Budget Exchange mechanisms, as well as the basis for its decisions where such options were not pursued....

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

49match

#8 - 7th Report - Financial resilience of government-sponsored museums and galleries

Public Accounts Committee

In most years, when calculating the grant-in-aid for the museums and galleries for the coming year, the Department applied an equal percentage uplift to their existing baseline allocations to allow for inflation, and subsequently used year-end top-ups to help those it discovered to be in financial trouble. It took a more considered approach when calculating the initial allocations...

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

49match

#5 - 7th Report - Financial resilience of government-sponsored museums and galleries

Public Accounts Committee

The Department’s current funding regime risks not providing museums and galleries with sufficient incentives to support themselves financially. The Department recognises the importance of providing museums and galleries with incentives to maximise opportunities for raising their own income, while also receiving grant-in-aid, as a way of improving their financial resilience. It views museums and galleries as incredibly motivated...

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

49match

#4 - 4th Report - Regulating for growth

Public Accounts Committee

DBT and HM Treasury do not have a grasp on which regulatory interventions they should prioritise to achieve the administrative burden reduction target. We know from past interventions that a small number of measures account for a significant proportion of savings and costs to businesses. We are concerned that savings identified to date are much smaller than needs...

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

49match

#6 - 6th Report - The Access to Work scheme

Public Accounts Committee

In some cases, taxpayers have been paying for workplace adjustments that employers should have been covering. The Department intends that the Access to Work scheme provides support over and above the reasonable adjustments that employers are legally required to make. It says that the scheme should fund those adjustments that are necessary but that it is not reasonable...

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

49match

#68 - 1st Report - Investing in the UK economy

Business and Trade Committee

We recommend that the Government revisit the November 2023 university spin-out review to ensure that standardised terms are fair. We recommend the Government publishes an update on progress in a year. This should contain clear measures on deals and terms that allow assessment of success to be determined. (Recommendation, Paragraph 206) The UK’s angel investor network

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

49match

#64 - 1st Report - Investing in the UK economy

Business and Trade Committee

The Government should set a clear ten-year ambition for tripling the size of assets under management in the UK venture capital industry. We recommend that the requirements and thresholds for Venture Capital Trusts be updated to fully reflect both inflation and current needs. (Recommendation, Paragraph 200)

Matched on classifier match