The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will hold the second of two
evidence sessions examining Government services:
Identifying costs and generating income at 3.30pm on
Monday 20thOctober.
Central government spent an estimated £450bn in day-to-day
running costs of services in 2024-25. While departments generally
have a good understanding of their total costs, the National
Audit Office has found that many do not know the cost of
individual activities such as handling applications, running
contact centres, or managing back-office checks.
Government recently tried to pin down more granular information
on service costs as part of its Top 75 government services
programme, but found it too difficult because systems are not
set up to collect information at this level of detail.
Following on from a session in which the Committee heard from
service providers and Treasury officials on the setting of fees
and charges, MPs will seek to establish how government can
address the lack of service cost information in departments, as a
foundation for improving productivity and the affordability of
public services.
Witnesses from 3.30pm:
- Cat Little CB, Permanent Secretary at Cabinet Office
- Conrad Smewing, Director General, Public Spending at HM
Treasury (HMT) and Joint-Head of the Government Finance Function
at HMT
- Andrew Cartner, Deputy Head of the Government Finance
Function at HMT
- Bonnie Wang, Director for Strategy and Assurance at
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
