Public Accounts Committee lays out direction of travel with 18 new inquiries
31 October 2024
All Government Departments urged by Chair to routinely consider diversity of witnesses.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today announces its first slate of upcoming inquiries for the new Parliament.
The programme of inquiries, to be held between now and February 2025, was selected by newly-appointed members of the Committee, in discussions led by the Chair of the Committee, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP.
The PAC, now re-established following the 2024 general election, has launched forthcoming inquiries providing scrutiny of Government spending and delivery across a range of Government Departments.
Each inquiry is underpinned by its own recent National Audit Office report. Committee members will use reports as a starting point from which to conduct their scrutiny to hold government to account for how it spends public money.
The inquiries are as follows:
- Asylum accommodation: Home Office acquisition of former HMP Northeye
- Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage
- Crown Court backlogs
- DCMS management of COVID-19 loans
- Decommissioning Sellafield
- DWP Customer Service and Accounts 2023-24
- HMRC Customer Service and Accounts 2023-24
- HS2: Update following Northern leg cancellation
- Improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children
- Local roads in England
- NHS financial sustainability
- Prison estate capacity
- The remediation of dangerous cladding
- Support for children and young people with special educational needs
- Tackling homelessness
- Tax evasion in the retail sector
- Use of AI in Government
- Whole of Government Accounts 2022-23
Alongside the launch of these inquiries, the PAC today also publishes a letter from the Chair to every Government Department.
The letter asks Departments to routinely consider diversity when proposing witnesses to give evidence to Committee evidence sessions, to ensure the PAC can take every opportunity to broaden the range of voices it hears from.
It also reminds Departments that the PAC will be paying close attention to whether accepted recommendations from Committee reports are being implemented in a timely fashion and meaningful changes are made.
Chair comment
Announcing the PAC’s upcoming inquiries, Sir Geoffrey said:
“I am pleased to welcome members to the newly reconstituted Committee, and glad to be able to announce this forthcoming programme of work. Our inquiries aim to provide an illuminating cross-section of policy delivery across a range of areas that impact the lives of millions of people - health, transport, justice, the environment, and more.
“With these inquiries making up the content of the PAC’s work, I have also laid down a marker to Government as to the form its scrutiny will take. We know that the most robust evidence base for Select Committee inquiries will draw from the widest range of voices possible. That is why I want to get Departments routinely thinking about diversity when deciding who to send to our evidence sessions.
“Departments should also expect to hear from us if inadequate responses are given to our reports, to be brought up short if we perceive any information gaps in our evidence sessions, and for any delays to be challenged.
“As our programme of work gets under way, I’m looking forward to working with members of all parties to continue to fulfil this Committee’s historic role in the service of the wider public – to be seekers after the truth on Government policy delivery. In order to achieve this, we will aim to engage with our expert witnesses constructively but persistently to obtain answers to difficult questions which will inform our subsequent reports and important recommendations.”
Further information
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