Twentieth Report - Whole of Government Accounts 2019–20

Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee HC 31 14 October 2022
Report Status Response document linked Recorded deadline: 14 Dec 2022

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Conclusions & Recommendations 27 items (21 recs)
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Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twentieth report from Session 2022-23 · published 14 Dec 2022
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Recommendations & Conclusions

27 results
2 Recommendation
Poor design and testing of OSCAR II caused significant delays to the Whole of Government...
Recommendation
Poor design and testing of OSCAR II caused significant delays to the Whole of Government Accounts. In July 2020 the Treasury replaced its now obsolete IT system with a new system, OSCAR II, used for collecting and consolidating data from … Read more
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3 Recommendation
Failures in the local audit market in England and Wales are resulting in poorer quality...
Recommendation
Failures in the local audit market in England and Wales are resulting in poorer quality data for Central Government to use in oversight, and in preparing the Whole of Government Accounts. Before the pandemic, the Local Government audit sector was … Read more
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4 Recommendation
Inconsistent presentation of data between years, and lack of reflection of current Government policies and...
Recommendation
Inconsistent presentation of data between years, and lack of reflection of current Government policies and economic context, reduce the usability of the Whole of Government Accounts. The 2019–20 WGA presented some important trend analysis within the Performance Report; an aspect … Read more
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5 Recommendation
The content of the Whole of Government Accounts has improved but does not transparently report...
Recommendation
The content of the Whole of Government Accounts has improved but does not transparently report against all key areas of government spending. The issues that are of greatest interest to users of the WGA, including the Committee, evolve over time. … Read more
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6 Recommendation
Government has not yet set out the consequences of announced Civil Service staffing reductions.
Recommendation
Government has not yet set out the consequences of announced Civil Service staffing reductions. In May 2022, the government announced that it intends to cut 91,000 jobs from the civil service over the next three years. The 2021 Spending Review … Read more
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1 Conclusion
Based on the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) for the year ended 31 March 2020,...
Conclusion
Based on the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) for the year ended 31 March 2020, we took evidence from HM Treasury (the Treasury) on 8 June 2022.1 The WGA is a unique document which provides the most complete and accurate … Read more
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7 Conclusion
Timeliness is essential when gathering high-quality data needed to produce useful information; delays reduce the...
Conclusion
Timeliness is essential when gathering high-quality data needed to produce useful information; delays reduce the value and transparency of information in the WGA and diminish its potential to generate valuable insights.17 The published accounts are an important source for key … Read more
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8 Recommendation
Throughout the course of the 2019–20 accounts preparation process, the Treasury repeatedly underestimated how long...
Recommendation
Throughout the course of the 2019–20 accounts preparation process, the Treasury repeatedly underestimated how long it would take to produce the WGA; missing both 11 Public Accounts Committee, Report of session: Whole of Government Accounts 2018–19, 22 January 2021 12 … Read more
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9 Recommendation
The Treasury has laid out its aims for delivery of the 2020–21 and 2021–22 accounts,...
Recommendation
The Treasury has laid out its aims for delivery of the 2020–21 and 2021–22 accounts, setting target dates for publication of March 2023 and November 2023 respectively. This gives the Treasury less than 10 months from publication of the 2019–20 … Read more
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10 Recommendation
In July 2020 the Treasury launched its new financial IT system, OSCAR II, for use...
Recommendation
In July 2020 the Treasury launched its new financial IT system, OSCAR II, for use in preparing the WGA. OSCAR II replaced the previous, obsolete system and was designed to support, amongst other functions: the collection and consolidation of data … Read more
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11 Recommendation
However, during the implementation of OSCAR II, a number of significant problems arose.
Recommendation
However, during the implementation of OSCAR II, a number of significant problems arose. The problems, which were not localised but were encountered across the system’s different functionalities, included: issues faced by component bodies when attempting to submit their data to … Read more
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12 Recommendation
The Treasury has told us that that all known issues with OSCAR II have now...
Recommendation
The Treasury has told us that that all known issues with OSCAR II have now been resolved as they move onto the production of the 2020–21 WGA. However, the Treasury informed us that it anticipates that there are likely to … Read more
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13 Recommendation
The Local Government audit sector in England and Wales has been under significant strain for...
Recommendation
The Local Government audit sector in England and Wales has been under significant strain for a number of years. There is a shortage of auditors with the knowledge and experience to deliver, within the expected timeframes, the high-quality audits required … Read more
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14 Recommendation
The Treasury explained that the decision was made to prepare the WGA using unaudited data...
Recommendation
The Treasury explained that the decision was made to prepare the WGA using unaudited data from these bodies as a trade-off between timeliness and completeness. The Treasury told us that it waited for the audits of all the largest bodies … Read more
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15 Conclusion
This problem is expected to escalate further as the Treasury look towards the 2020– 21...
Conclusion
This problem is expected to escalate further as the Treasury look towards the 2020– 21 WGA. The proportion of 2020–21 Local Government audits that had been completed by the target date of 20 September 2021 dropped again from 45% in … Read more
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16 Recommendation
There are several factors that contribute to maximising the usability of the WGA for the...
Recommendation
There are several factors that contribute to maximising the usability of the WGA for the public and other stakeholders. We discussed with the Treasury how creating successive sets of accounts which are presented in a consistent and comparable way enables … Read more
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17 Recommendation
In the 2019–20 WGA, the Treasury presented some important trend analysis within the Performance Report...
Recommendation
In the 2019–20 WGA, the Treasury presented some important trend analysis within the Performance Report on income and expenditure, as well as assets and liabilities.47 This is an aspect of the WGA reporting that we welcome as an incredibly useful … Read more
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18 Recommendation
Another factor to consider in elevating the usability of the WGA is the way in...
Recommendation
Another factor to consider in elevating the usability of the WGA is the way in which current Government policies and economic context are reflected in its reporting; currently such context is lacking. The Treasury has invited our thoughts on how … Read more
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19 Recommendation
The Treasury explained to us how the WGA plays a crucial role in enhancing the...
Recommendation
The Treasury explained to us how the WGA plays a crucial role in enhancing the fiscal transparency of the public sector, giving a more complete and overarching view of government spending and the public financial structure that exists elsewhere. This … Read more
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20 Recommendation
The Treasury expressed its understanding of how the issues that are of greatest interest to...
Recommendation
The Treasury expressed its understanding of how the issues that are of greatest interest to users of the WGA, including the Committee, evolve over time. The Treasury told us that where users of the WGA continue to rely on the … Read more
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21 Recommendation
The Treasury currently uses the NAO’s COVID-19 Cost Tracker to provide data for its reporting...
Recommendation
The Treasury currently uses the NAO’s COVID-19 Cost Tracker to provide data for its reporting on COVID-19 in the WGA. However, the NAO is set to cease publishing this information in the near future and it is therefore important that … Read more
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22 Recommendation
Improvements to the transparency of information in the WGA would also be achieved through more...
Recommendation
Improvements to the transparency of information in the WGA would also be achieved through more detailed narrative in certain areas. The asset and liability split reported in the WGA shows total assets of £2,138.5 billion and total liabilities of £4,972.7 … Read more
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23 Recommendation
In May 2022, the government announced its intention to cut 91,000 jobs from the civil...
Recommendation
In May 2022, the government announced its intention to cut 91,000 jobs from the civil service over the next three years, with the aim of returning to 2016 staffing levels.70 The 2021 Spending Review had already confirmed the need for … Read more
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24 Recommendation
Staff cuts will inevitably involve a quantity of associated costs, including redundancy costs, that the...
Recommendation
Staff cuts will inevitably involve a quantity of associated costs, including redundancy costs, that the government will have to pay out. We questioned the Treasury as to what the total cost of these payments was likely to be, and although … Read more
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25 Conclusion
This scale of these proposed cuts has the potential to bring about significant consequences for...
Conclusion
This scale of these proposed cuts has the potential to bring about significant consequences for service delivery, both in regard to the quality and efficiency of delivery and the range of services it will be possible to provide. At the … Read more
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26 Conclusion
The Treasury told us that at this stage the challenge of how best to achieve...
Conclusion
The Treasury told us that at this stage the challenge of how best to achieve these reductions is in the hands of individual departments. It explained that each department is itself best placed to understand the resourcing requirements needed to … Read more
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27 Conclusion
We discussed with the Treasury that one way in which headcount reductions might be accomplished...
Conclusion
We discussed with the Treasury that one way in which headcount reductions might be accomplished whilst at the same time maintaining the scope and standard of service delivery, is by way of increased digitisation. By digitalising services, the required level … Read more
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