Fourth Report - Use of evaluation and modelling in government
Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee
HC 254
27 May 2022
Government Response (AI assessment · 19 of 19 classified)
Accepted
12
Recommendations
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Conclusions (4) Observations and findings — click to expand
1
Conclusion
Acknowledged
On the basis of two reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from HM Treasury, the Finance Function, the Analysis Function and the Evaluation Task Force about the use of evaluation and modelling across government.1 Cabinet Office introduced cross-government ‘functions’ in 2013 to provide professional support to …
Government Response Summary
The Evaluation Task Force (ETF) was established in 2021 as a joint HM Treasury and Cabinet Office unit. The ETF will also publish its strategy which will explain how it is working to improve the evaluation system in greater detail, including indicators to measure progress.
7
Conclusion
Acknowledged
HM Treasury has used the last two spending reviews to increase the emphasis on evaluation in departments, but acknowledges it has a lot more to do to address the persistent problems which prevent the provision and use of evaluation.17 Working with the Evaluation Task Force, HM Treasury asked departments to …
Government Response Summary
The Evaluation Task Force is working with HM Treasury to ensure that departments respond to and deliver on their settlement conditions relating to evaluation, captured in a central tracking system and monitored by senior officials; approval for future funding can be withheld if departments don't meet their conditions of settlement.
10
Conclusion
Acknowledged
While HM Treasury is an important user of department’s models, it does not comprehensively scrutinise and challenge a department’s quality assurance arrangements for the models it uses. There is no requirement for the Aqua Book to be followed as part of the investment approval process nor as part of the …
Government Response Summary
The Government Analysis Function is piloting an assessment framework to monitor departments' implementation of the Analysis Functional Standard; the ONS is considering the future scope of the Analysis Function; HM Treasury will ensure staff who use outputs from other departments are able to confidently assure quality.
13
Conclusion
Acknowledged
When producing and using models, poor data can lead to additional time and increased difficulty when quality assuring the model inputs. This difficulty is compounded by a lack of data standards across government which means there are inconsistent ways of recording the same information.40 When dealing with new situations, such …
Government Response Summary
The Cabinet Office will address barriers to data sharing and use through the national data strategy, with complete delivery by April 2025 and an interim progress report by December 2023; the CDDO has published the Data Sharing Governance Framework and is establishing the Data Sharing Playbook.