UK Inquiry Tracker

Work of the Department for Business and Trade

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 26 Mar 2025 Closed: 21 Aug 2025 Parliament page

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) was created in February 2023, bringing together relevant parts of the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the former Department for International Trade (DIT). 2023-24 is the new Department’s first year of accounts. Notable values for investments and liabilities … Read more The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) was created in February 2023, bringing together relevant parts of the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the former Department for International Trade (DIT). 2023-24 is the new Department’s first year of accounts. Notable values for investments and liabilities in the accounts include £6.4bn in mostly closed schemes for COVID-related financial guarantees, and £1.7bn for redress schemes related to the Post Office Horizon scandal. DBT exceeded its expenditure limit for 2023-24 of c.£950m by c.£219m, due to the need to fund payments made by the Post Office under its Horizon Shortfall Scheme. The PAC raised concerns in 2023 around reports that indicating some Post Office Horizon victims were receiving only partial payments and were still being owed huge sums. The National Audit Office highlighted a lack of data and the Post Office Horizon-related breach in spending limits in its opinion on the Department’s annual report and accounts 2023-24 . Its report on DBT’s support for priority industry sectors also found that weaknesses in how UK industries are supported by Government must be addressed if the full potential of its Industrial Strategy is to be unlocked. Based on the NAO’s two reports, the PAC will hear from senior officials on topics including the Post Office Horizon Redress Scheme, COVID financial guarantees, and how DBT is working to secure impact from its support for priority industry sectors. If you have evidence on these issues, please submit it here by 23:59 on Monday 31 March 2025. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues . Show less

12 Recommendations

63 Conclusions

2 Reports

1 Oral session

3 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 8 events

18 Sep
2025

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-fourth report from Session 2024-26

18 Sep
2025

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-third report from Session 2024-26

25 Jun
2025

Report published

33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s priority industry sectors

25 Jun
2025

Report published

34th Report - Department for Business and Trade Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24

8 May
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Business and Trade relating to the follow up on the Work of the Department for Bu…

28 Apr
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Business and Trade relating to the correction to the transcript of the session on…

24 Apr
2025

Correspondence

Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Business and Trade relating to the oral evidence session held on 07 April 2025 on t…

7 Apr
2025

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

7 Apr 2025

View on parliament.uk

Carl Creswell · Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy David Bickerton · Department for Business and Trade Gareth Davies · Department for Business and Trade Gareth Davies · Department for Transport Jaee Samant CBE · Department for Business and Trade Sean Jones · HM Treasury Tara Smith · Department for Business and Trade

Reports 2 reports · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
34th Report - Department for Business and Trade Annual Report an…	HC 818	25 Jun 2025	47	Response document linked
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s priority industry sectors	HC 1070	25 Jun 2025	28	Response document linked

Recommendations & Conclusions

75 results

2 Conclusion

34th Report - Department for Busin…

Outline plans for handling remaining Overturned Convictions Scheme cases after transition.

Within the Overturned Convictions Scheme, there are a number of complex cases where claims have not yet been submitted, meaning ongoing delays in compensation for these individuals. The Overturned Convictions Scheme was set up to compensate those who had their … Read more

HM Treasury

Work of the Department for Business and Trade

Activity timeline 8 events

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

Reports 2 reports · click to expand

Recommendations & Conclusions

Outline plans for handling remaining Overturned Convictions Scheme cases after transition.

Set out assessment of financial support and plans for Post Office independence.

Provide the Committee with NATIS audit findings and Insolvency Service's fraud recovery performance.

Provide the Committee with a written update on delayed annual accounts, including reasons and actions.

Committee takes evidence on Department's Annual Report, Horizon, and Bounce Back Loan Schemes.

C&AG issues qualified opinion on Department's accounts due to Horizon scheme provision uncertainty.

Horizon scheme settlement payments fall short of expectations in 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts.

Uncertainty in Horizon Shortfall Scheme provision primarily due to unknown volume of claimants.

Uncertainty in Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme provision primarily due to unknown value per claim.

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

Lack of follow-up letters to unapplied Horizon Shortfall Scheme claimants raises settlement delay concerns.

Department assumes direct responsibility for Overturned Convictions Scheme management from June 2025.

Sir Gary Hickinbottom employed to manage Post Office Horizon compensation scheme disagreements.

Majority of eligible individuals received payments or offers by March 2025.

Complexity may delay claims from 25 individuals until 2026 despite interim payments.

Department's Letter of Support crucial for Post Office's financial stability as a going concern.

Department provided £260 million in grants and £786 million in loans to Post Office.

Letter of Support assures against Post Office financial risks and inability to meet liabilities.

Letter of Support is a commitment, not a blank cheque or financial guarantee.

Department confident in short-term liquidity but assessing Post Office's long-term financial viability.

Department did not consider Letter of Support required separate parliamentary notification.

Managing Public Money requires timely parliamentary notification of commitments and department agreed to notify committee.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme designed to support small businesses with 100% government guarantee

Reduced BBLS lender checks for 1.5 million loans increased taxpayer fraud risk

BBLS fraud losses estimated at £1.9 billion with tiered investigation strategy

BBLS fraud losses of £1.9 billion likely underestimate the true total

Most Covid loan scheme defaults attributed to company failure, not fraud

Department employing in-house teams and BBB audit for diverse counter-fraud activities

Department outsources complex fraud cases; NATIS recovered £8.6 million in 2023-24

BBLS 100% guarantee reduces lender incentive for fraud recovery efforts

Department withdrew £376 million BBLS loans from guarantee, shifting risk to lenders

BBLS saved businesses, but its design hinders effective fraud and error tackling

Department lacks clarity on recovered BBLS fraud losses and recovery methods.

Ineffective NATIS contract terminated after costing £38.5m for only 14 convictions.

Department for Business and Trade created in 2023 from predecessor departments.

DBT's financial statements became complex, encompassing eighteen new arm's length bodies.

Department published 2023-24 accounts ten months late, missing HM Treasury deadline.

Account publication delayed by merging predecessor data, complex balances, and Post Office provisions.

Merging predecessor departments' financial information for three years proved a huge endeavour.

Lower materiality threshold for DBT accounts increased complexity and workload from inherited balances.

Insufficient finance team experience for complex accounts necessitated recruitment of hundreds of staff.

Complexity and uncertainty of Post Office compensation provisions delayed accounts completion.

Delayed publication of Department's accounts undermines parliamentary scrutiny and public assurance.

Machinery of Government change necessitated developing new, consistent governance and control frameworks.

Department's 2023-24 control framework received 'limited' assurance due to significant weaknesses.

GIAA identified six control themes requiring action, exacerbated by Machinery of Government changes.

Department anticipates 'moderate' assurance for 2024-25 after improving its governance framework.

Develop collaboration with other departments, formalising sector roles and improving intelligence sharing.

Consolidate understanding of industry support and improve reporting to inform future decision-making.

Provide greater transparency on factors and processes used for balancing industry support decisions.

Review internal structures and resourcing to align with Industrial Strategy objectives and emerging issues.

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

Committee reviewed evidence on government support for UK’s priority industry sectors

Businesses receive duplicate or conflicting information from multiple government departments

Department improved intelligence sharing and single account management for top businesses

Department struggles monitoring sector engagement with inaccessible digital systems and inconsistent records

Department must collaborate with multiple government departments to achieve its business objectives

Department's inter-departmental working relationships vary, with limited adoption of handshake agreements

Office for Life Sciences model shows potential for integrated cross-departmental working

Department significantly improved sharing business intelligence reports across Whitehall departments

Department directly supports industry through varied interventions including grants and sector funds

Department tracks overall spending but lacks systems to breakdown support by type

Department lacks complete overview and accurate data on industry support spending

Department lacks standardised approach for balancing metrics in industry support decisions

Ministerial decisions on industry support trade-offs lack explicit, detailed methodology

Government prioritises eight growth sectors while recognising broader foundational industries

Cross-Whitehall collaboration essential for Industrial Strategy delivery despite misaligned objectives

Departmental sector team staffing levels lack correlation with industry importance or spending

Department reviewing resource allocation to align with Industrial Strategy priority sectors

Department demonstrates agility for urgent issues but faces specialist recruitment challenges

Forthcoming Industrial Strategy focuses on eight growth sectors with industry partnership

Industrial Strategy prioritisation of growth sectors may disappoint other industries

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

Inconsistent monitoring and evaluation evident across Department's industry support programmes.

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