Committee news
Govt flying blind on struggling council finances amid unprecedented local audit crisis
Committee warns Government accounts are not focused sufficiently on long-term financial risks posed by climate change, rising health spending, and geopolitical tensions
19 March 2025
Prisons crisis: As justice system faces total gridlock in 2026, PAC calls for rapid action
Failed efforts to increase prison capacity results in endemic overcrowding amid safety risks, increasing violence and hampered rehabilitation efforts
14 March 2025
Electric vehicles: Govt must overcome delays for charging network rollout to succeed
Department for Transport (DfT) slow to ensure available rapid charge points on motorways
12 March 2025
Disadvantaged pupils risk losing out as their funding increasingly used to plug budget gaps
PAC calls on Govt to consider other measures and data alongside academic attainment
7 March 2025
Justice denied: Govt failing to take urgent action on crown court backlogs, PAC warns
Report highlights backlog’s devastating impact on victims of crime and their families as prison population on remand awaiting trial swells to highest level in 50 years
5 March 2025
Department of Health and Social Care spending to be debated in House of Commons main chamber
MPs from PAC and the Health and Social Care Committee, along with Members from across the House of Commons, will debate the spending of the Department of Health and Social Care
28 February 2025
Where now for HS2?: PAC urges Govt to set out what benefit can be salvaged for taxpayer
Scepticism persists over Govt’s ability to successfully deliver programme following litany of failures and unheeded warnings
28 February 2025
£5.5billion lost to tax evasion could be significant underestimate, PAC report warns
Huge gaps in Companies House reforms make fraud too easy as public bodies lack adequate powers to clamp down
12 February 2025
Carbon capture: High degree of uncertainty whether risky investment by Govt will pay off
While lessons learned from past failures in introducing technology, PAC report warns Govt has not assessed likely impact on consumer energy bills of carbon capture programme
7 February 2025
Asylum accommodation: Dysfunctional culture at Home Office must be confronted
Report into former HMP Northeye finds expert advice ignored and mistakes repeated
5 February 2025
Defence and Public Accounts Committees express “deep frustration” at lack of Defence Equipment Plan
For the last two years, the MOD has failed to publish the annual Equipment Plan, where it sets out its spending plans on equipment procurement and support projects over the next decade
31 January 2025
Disability benefits claimants at increased risk of hardship as DWP underpayments rise
Report warns service provided to customers is a mixed bag with levels of fraud remaining unacceptably high
31 January 2025
Future of the NHS: Health officials out of ideas and remarkably complacent, PAC finds
Report finds lack of fresh thinking and decisive action within NHS England and DHSC paired with overly optimistic planning assumptions as financial position continues to worsen
29 January 2025
Homelessness crisis places unsustainable pressure on local authorities' crumbling finances
PAC warns of an over-reliance on the use of temporary accommodation, due in part to a dwindling and increasingly costly housing stock
24 January 2025
HMRC report follow-up: Letters exchanged between PAC Chair and tax authority’s chief executive
The PAC today publishes an exchange of letters between the Chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and Sir Jim Harra, HMRC Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary
22 January 2025
HMRC accused of deliberately poor service and damage to public confidence in tax system
Customer service continues to deteriorate from last year’s all-time low as concerns raised over uncollectable debt and reduction in prosecutions
22 January 2025
Local roads branded “national embarrassment” as Govt urged to tackle £15bn repair backlog
As disrepair and damage to vehicles from potholes increase, PAC calls out the DfT for not taking its use of public money on local roads sufficiently seriously
17 January 2025
SEND emergency: Unviable system will end in lost generation of children without reform
With outcomes for children stalled, families’ confidence undermined and two-fifths of local authorities staring down bankruptcy, PAC report issues urgent warning
15 January 2025
Comment: Storm Bert – flood resilience
PAC Chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown reacts to the widespread flooding following Storm Bert
27 November 2024
Public Accounts Committee lays out direction of travel with 18 new inquiries
All Government Departments urged by Chair to routinely consider diversity of witnesses
31 October 2024