UK Inquiry Tracker

BEIS Annual Report & Accounts 2020-21

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 12 Jan 2022 Closed: 2 Sep 2022 Parliament page

Gareth Davies, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) of the National Audit Office, has qualified his audit opinion on the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 2020-21 accounts because of the material levels of fraud and error in COVID-19 business support scheme expenditure . The Committee will question senior … Read more

4 Recommendations

16 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Letter

Activity timeline 3 events

2 Sep
2022

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the First report from Session 2022-23

11 Jul
2022

Correspondence

Correspondence from Sarah Munby, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, re follow up to…

18 May
2022

Report published

First Report - Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Annual Report and Accounts 2020–21

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
First Report - Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Stra…	HC 59	18 May 2022	20	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

2 results

2 Recommendation Not Addressed

First Report - Department for Busi…

The Department does not have a good enough assessment of the levels of fraud and...

The Department does not have a good enough assessment of the levels of fraud and error in local authority administered business support grants. During 2020– 21 and 2021–22 the Department has provided funds to local authorities to distribute to local … Read more

Government Response

The government response discusses Électricité de France’s (EDF) strategies, plans, and the estimated costs of decommissioning, and doesn't address the recommendation to calculate fraud estimates.

HM Treasury

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7 Conclusion Not Addressed

First Report - Department for Busi…

In addition to its guaranteed loan schemes, the Department provided £21.8 billion in grant funding...

In addition to its guaranteed loan schemes, the Department provided £21.8 billion in grant funding to local authorities to distribute to businesses in their areas. The Department set the eligibility criteria and provided guidance on grant making to local authorities.20 … Read more In addition to its guaranteed loan schemes, the Department provided £21.8 billion in grant funding to local authorities to distribute to businesses in their areas. The Department set the eligibility criteria and provided guidance on grant making to local authorities.20 In the first three grant schemes, which account for £11.5 billion21 of this funding, the 11 Qq 10, 13, 67, 72–77, 99–101; C&AG’s Report, page 134 12 Q 67; C&AG’s Report, page 130 13 Q 24 14 Qq 9, 17 15 C&AG’s Report, Introduction, page 130 16 C&AG’s Report, pages 130–133 17 Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Annual report and accounts 2020–21, 25 November 2021, Accountability report, page 121 and Note 19, page 215; C&AG’s Report, page 133 18 Q 10; C&AG’s Report, page 132 19 If 11.15% implies a fraud loss of £4.9 billion, 7.5% would equate to approximately £3.3 billion 20 Q 67; C&AG’s Report, pages 130, 133–134 21 Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Annual report and accounts 2020–21, 25 November 2021, Note 4.4, page 167: £10,824 million in 2019–20 plus £683 million in 2020–21 = £11,507 million or £11.5 billion 10 Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Annual Report and Accounts 2020–21 Department estimates 8.9%, or just over £1 billion, is lost to fraud and error.22 Again, this figure represents a central estimate in a range between £514 million (4.4%) and nearly £1.6 billion (13.4%).23 The Department told us that this was an estimate that it has low confidence in.24 In written evidence, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), a regulator of the accountancy and audit profession, believes there is a significant chance that this underestimates the level of fraud and error; however, it also considers that the Department has had sufficient time to collect the information it needs from local authorities and perform adequate checks to calculate a more accurate estimate.25 As a result of these material levels of fraud and erro Show less

Government Response

The government response discusses the Programme, committing to meet the indicative timeframe and recruit/retain skills, and manages short-term risks to value for money; it doesn't address the conclusion about grant funding.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 20 of 4 classified

Accepted 6

Acknowledged 12

Not Addressed 2

Total 4 recs + 16 conclusions

Correspondence 1 letter

11 Jul 2022 Correspondence from Sarah Munby, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, re follow up to the first report – BEIS Strategy Annual Report and Accounts 20-21, dated 6 July 2022

Parliament page