Post Office Horizon compensation and support for priority industries under scrutiny in PAC’s two-part session with Department for Business and Trade
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will scrutinise the work of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) at 3.30pm on Monday 7 April. The session will be informed by two recent reports from the National Audit Office, on DBT’s support for the UK’s priority industry sectors, and the Department’s annual report and accounts for 2023-24.
Meeting details
Two panels will be held, the first focusing on DBT’s accounts, including its management of the Post Office Horizon compensation schemes. DBT exceeded its expenditure limit for 2023-24 of c.£950m by c.£219m, due to the need to fund payments made by the Post Office under its Horizon Shortfall Scheme. The PAC raised concerns in 2023 around reports that indicated some Post Office Horizon victims were receiving only partial payments and were still owed huge sums. Other likely topics include progress in recovering losses from fraud on the COVID Bounce Back Loan Scheme, and how DBT will improve the timeliness of publication of its accounts.
A second panel will then look at DBT’s support for priority industries. Government aims to prioritise eight growth-driving sectors: advanced manufacturing, creative industries, clean energy industries, defence, digital and technologies, financial services, life sciences, and professional and business services. The PAC will likely seek to clarify DBT’s role in economic growth, and examine progress in developing government’s Industrial Strategy.