Accounting Officers are responsible for approving, in advance, all significant initiatives, policies, programmes and projects, and should provide assurance to Parliament that those activities are meeting the accounting officer standards set out in Managing Public Money – regularity, propriety, value for money and feasibility.42 In April 2022, the Accounting Officer assessed that they were not able to conclude the third country asylum processing policy, under which the Rwanda partnership falls, would be value for money as there was insufficient evidence that it would deter enough people from making illegal journeys to the UK. They requested a ministerial direction to proceed with the policy and this remained in place at the time of the evidence session. The Accounting Officer told us that they kept their assessment of value for money under constant review. They explained that it should be possible to see whether there is a deterrent effect once flights are running.43