RHI-21 Response Accepted

Sceptical Business Case Scrutiny

Recommendation

The Department of Finance's distinctive role in scrutinising business cases should be searching and sceptical, guarding against over-reliance on the assurances offered by the applicant Department.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- In October 2021, the NI Executive accepted this recommendation in full (NI Executive Response to RHI Inquiry, Department of Finance, October 2021).
- The NIAO Second Progress Report (October 2024) assessed this recommendation as Implemented, stating that the Department of Finance's distinctive scrutiny role for business cases had been maintained and strengthened (NIAO Second Progress Report, October 2024).
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
Jurisdiction
Northern Ireland
Response
Accepted
Accepted Department of Finance
07 Oct 2021

[Note: The NI Executive responded to recommendations 19-23, 29-33 together as a group under the 'Governance and Financial Controls' theme.] Accepted in full. Addressed through the Review of the Expenditure Approval and Business Case Processes. DoF now applies non-standard conditions of approval for complex projects; tailored monitoring approach demonstrates proactivity.

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Progress Timeline
Official Report
15 Oct 2024

NIAO Second Progress Report (October 2024): Implemented. DoF's distinctive scrutiny role for business cases maintained and strengthened.

Source
Source
Inquiry RHI Inquiry
Report The Report of the Independent Public Inquiry into the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme 13 Mar 2020
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Responsible Bodies
Department of Finance Primary
Themes & Tags
Public project assurance methodology Departmental capacity for grant design Governance Business Cases Scrutiny
Recommendation age 6.2 yrs
Last formal update 593 days ago