Government’s delivery through arm’s-length bodies

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 8 Jun 2021 Closed: 16 Nov 2021 Parliament page
Government uses a range of methods and agencies to carry out its policy objectives, including ‘arm’s length bodies’ . Government arm’s length bodies are used to deliver around £200 billion of public policy expenditure a year, and employ approximately 300,000 staff. They perform a variety of different functions across government … Read more
9 Recommendations
11 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
1 Letter
1 Event
Activity timeline 4 events
14 Dec
2021
Report published
24 Sep
2021
Report published
5 Jul
2021
Oral evidence
30 Jun
2021
Correspondence
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
5 Jul 2021
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Government’s delivery through arm’s-length bodies
Alex Chisholm · Cabinet Office Antonia Romeo · Ministry of Justice Cat Little · Cabinet Office Tamara Finkelstein · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Eighteenth Report - Government’s delivery through arm’s-length b… HC 181 24 Sep 2021 20 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
20 results
2 Recommendation Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
Cabinet Office and HM Treasury’s review and challenge of business cases is not sufficiently robust.
Cabinet Office and HM Treasury’s review and challenge of business cases is not sufficiently robust. Of the 24 business cases submitted and approved between 2016 and 2020, not one met all the requirements set out by the Cabinet Office in … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation, agreeing to continue requiring robust business cases for new ALBs and to develop an updated internal business case checklist by Spring 2022 to ensure requirements are met more consistently.
HM Treasury
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3 Recommendation Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
Departments do not receive enough support from Cabinet Office in certain aspects of arm’s-length bodies...
Departments do not receive enough support from Cabinet Office in certain aspects of arm’s-length bodies management. When this Committee last reported on ALBs in 2016 we found inconsistencies in the way that departments managed their ALBs. This inconsistency remains, with … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation and commits to writing to the Committee by January 2022 with an update on the Public Bodies Reform Programme, which includes workstreams on governance, data, and sponsorship skills across government.
HM Treasury
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4 Recommendation Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury do not have a common view of risks across...
The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury do not have a common view of risks across arm’s-length bodies. Departments collect risk data from their ALBs on a regular basis. The Cabinet Office does not request this, nor use it to identify … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation and will work with the Government Finance Function to promote good practice, create common frameworks for risk management maturity to be published by Summer 2022, and use departmental assessments to inform reviews and enhance risk awareness.
HM Treasury
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5 Recommendation Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
Poor data and legacy IT are a barrier to effective oversight of its arm’s-length bodies.
Poor data and legacy IT are a barrier to effective oversight of its arm’s-length bodies. There are real risks to departments as a result of aging IT systems, including threats to resilience and inconsistencies in data presentation and comparability. Legacy … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation, confirming HM Treasury will write to the Committee after the 2021 Spending Review to detail how legacy IT issues are being addressed, noting a £2.6 billion investment in cyber and legacy IT.
HM Treasury
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6 Conclusion
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
The current public appointments process does not give confidence that it is efficient, transparent and...
The current public appointments process does not give confidence that it is efficient, transparent and fair. Following the Grimstone Review and the Committee’s 2016 recommendations, the Cabinet Office developed a Governance Code on public appointments which established the process that … Read more
HM Treasury
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1 Conclusion Not Addressed
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on central government oversight of ALBs.1
Government Response
The government's response provides a general introduction to the report on arm's-length bodies (ALBs) and the role of departments in their oversight, but does not specifically address the committee's introductory conclusion about taking evidence.
HM Treasury
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7 Recommendation Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
The Cabinet Office has yet to put in place a strategy for 2021 onwards.
The Cabinet Office has yet to put in place a strategy for 2021 onwards. It told us that a realistic reform programme is extremely important in ensuring accountability, performance, and the proper use of all public funds, but implementation of … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation and commits to writing to the Committee by January 2022 with updates on the Public Bodies Reform Programme, implementation of Action 24, lessons learned from reviews, its emerging Public Bodies Strategy, efficiency considerations, and adherence to guidance.
HM Treasury
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8 Conclusion Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
When proposing a new ALB, the sponsoring department must submit a business case to ministers...
When proposing a new ALB, the sponsoring department must submit a business case to ministers at both the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. Each business case must fulfil a number of requirements set by the two departments, including demonstrating the … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation, committing to continue requiring business cases for new ALBs that adhere to specific criteria, and will develop an updated internal business case checklist by Spring 2022 to improve consistency.
HM Treasury
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9 Recommendation Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
Despite the Cabinet Office’s stance that ALBs should be used only as a last resort,...
Despite the Cabinet Office’s stance that ALBs should be used only as a last resort, 38% of business cases submitted between 2016 and 2020 did not seriously consider a long-list of alternative delivery models. One quarter of business cases submitted … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation to strengthen requirements for establishing new ALBs, committing to enforce adherence to the Green Book, specific assessment criteria, and to develop an updated internal business case checklist by Spring 2022.
HM Treasury
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10 Recommendation Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
The Cabinet Office is responsible for publishing guidance for departments and ALBs and provides direct...
The Cabinet Office is responsible for publishing guidance for departments and ALBs and provides direct support on any questions or issues. However, out of the departments and ALBs interviewed by the NAO, three quarters said they would welcome increased guidance … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation and commits to writing to the Committee by January 2022, providing an update on the Public Bodies Reform Programme and how it will address guidance adherence, benchmarking support, and improved sponsorship skills across government.
HM Treasury
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11 Conclusion Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
When this Committee last reported in 2016 it noted that the quality of oversight by...
When this Committee last reported in 2016 it noted that the quality of oversight by departments was inconsistent.20 There remains a lack of consistency in how ALBs work with departments and how they are held to account. In order to … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation to assure guidance adherence, support benchmarking, and improve sponsorship skills. It commits to a new Public Bodies Reform Programme and will provide an update to the Committee by January 2022 on its progress and next steps for workstreams on governance, data, and sponsorship.
HM Treasury
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12 Recommendation Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
Framework agreements and Accounting Officer System Statements are important in clarifying relationships and accountabilities, both...
Framework agreements and Accounting Officer System Statements are important in clarifying relationships and accountabilities, both between departments and ALBs and across wider departmental groups.24 Framework agreements formalise the governing principles and the relationship between ALB and sponsor department, and Accounting … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's recommendation and commits to updating them by January 2022 on the Public Bodies Reform Programme, which includes governance workstreams to ensure important documents are regularly reviewed and updated.
HM Treasury
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13 Recommendation Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
When this Committee last reported on ALBs in 2016 we noted that the Cabinet Office...
When this Committee last reported on ALBs in 2016 we noted that the Cabinet Office should use its position at the centre of government to ensure that the management of ALBs was improved.27 One of the ways the Cabinet Office … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation and commits to working with the Government Finance Function to promote good practice, create common risk assessment frameworks by Summer 2022, use departmental risk assessments, and enhance capabilities.
HM Treasury
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14 Conclusion Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
The Accounting Officer for the Ministry of Justice explained her responsibilities for the risk and...
The Accounting Officer for the Ministry of Justice explained her responsibilities for the risk and performance of the ALBs within the Ministry of Justice departmental group boundary. As part of this, the Ministry of Justice requests performance, financial and risk … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation to gain assurance on consolidated ALB risks and use departmental assessments to inform cross-cutting risk discussions. It commits to working with the Government Finance Function to promote good practice, create common frameworks by Summer 2022, and enhance risk management capabilities.
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
The Cabinet Office told us it focusses on cross-cutting risks that can only be addressed...
The Cabinet Office told us it focusses on cross-cutting risks that can only be addressed at the centre of government. It addresses these risks through the production of the national risk register and the national security risk assessment, and through … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation to gain assurance on consolidated ALB risks and use departmental assessments to inform cross-cutting risk discussions. It commits to working with the Government Finance Function to promote good practice, create common frameworks by Summer 2022, and enhance risk management capabilities.
HM Treasury
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16 Conclusion Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
The NAO report highlights that best practice relationships between a sponsor department and an ALB...
The NAO report highlights that best practice relationships between a sponsor department and an ALB include the sharing of performance information and risk-based data which is discussed on a regular basis.33 The Ministry of Justice told us that one of … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed with the committee's conclusion that poor data and legacy IT are barriers to effective oversight, committing to have HM Treasury write to the committee detailing how the 2021 Spending Review addresses these issues and outlining a £2.6 billion investment in cyber and legacy IT.
HM Treasury
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17 Conclusion Accepted
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
Extracting data from aging IT systems is expensive, sometimes impossible, and it is costly to...
Extracting data from aging IT systems is expensive, sometimes impossible, and it is costly to combine data from different systems.36 As a result, comparable data is not readily available to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury on the different types … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the (paraphrased) recommendation for HM Treasury to report on legacy IT bids, confirming that HM Treasury will write to the Committee by Winter 2021 and noting a £2.6 billion investment in cyber and legacy IT over the 2021 Spending Review period.
HM Treasury
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18 Conclusion
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
Recent controversy around the appointment of non-executive directors to departmental boards has raised questions about...
Recent controversy around the appointment of non-executive directors to departmental boards has raised questions about whether the public appointments process is fit for purpose.39 When this Committee last reported on ALBs in 2016, we recommended that Cabinet Office should streamline … Read more
HM Treasury
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19 Conclusion
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
The Cabinet Office does not hold data which would allow it to monitor the length...
The Cabinet Office does not hold data which would allow it to monitor the length of time appointments take, or the number of times that Ministers have overridden the recommendations made by appointment boards.43 The Cabinet Office told us that … Read more
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion
Eighteenth Report - Government’s d…
Good governance involves groups that are diverse and represent a wide range of people and...
Good governance involves groups that are diverse and represent a wide range of people and opinions. There has also been recent criticism of the lack of diversity in the civil service, a problem which is clearly apparent when looking at … Read more
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 16 of 9 classified
Accepted 15
Not Addressed 1
Total 9 recs + 11 conclusions
Correspondence 1 letter
30 Jun 2021 To committee Correspondence from letter from Alex Chisholm, Permanent Secretary, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Cabinet Office, re Arm’s Length Bodies, dated 23 June 2021
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