An Overview of the Cabinet Office using data from financial year 2023-24 - an NAO report published February 2025

 Introduction - The National Audit Office (NAO) report on the Cabinet Office for 2023-24 provides an overview of the department's role, financial performance, and key challenges.  

The Cabinet Office acts as the corporate headquarters of the government, supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet, leading and coordinating cross-departmental initiatives, and driving civil service reform.

Key Priorities and Responsibilities
Financial Overview

Core Functions

• Supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet: Providing the necessary infrastructure and support for government decision-making.

• National Security: Leading and coordinating the government's response to security threats and implementing the refreshed Integrated Review. This includes managing complex, multilateral work related to global conflicts.

• Modernising and reforming government: Leading Civil Service reform to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability. This includes initiatives like the Civil Service People Plan and the government's location strategy, which aims to move roles outside of London.

• Cross-government leadership: Acting as the "corporate headquarters" by providing a command centre for crises and leading strategic policy areas. This involves providing direction to other departments and ensuring consistent standards.

Finances - The Cabinet Office's total expenditure is approximately £1 billion per year. The report notes that the department's financial performance is closely scrutinized due to its central role in government.  A significant part of its work involves providing oversight for cross-government spending, which includes managing and tracking efficiency savings. 

The NAO highlights the introduction of a new Government Efficiency Framework in July 2023, which aims to improve the consistency and transparency of how departments calculate and report efficiency savings.

The Cabinet Office group includes 11 arm’s-length bodies. 

Non ministerial Departments

1) UK Statistics Authority - publish their own accounts

Non-departmental public bodies (NDPB) 

2) Civil Service Commission -  publish their own accounts

3) Equality and Human Rights Commission -  publish their own accounts

Executive agencies

4) Crown Commercial Service - helps UK public sector get better value for money from its procurement of common goods and services.

5) Government Property Agency - sets & implements strategy for HMG's properties (worth £2068m).

Advisory NDPBs

6) Advisory Committee on Business Appointments

7) Committee on Standards in Public Life

8) House of Lords Appointments Commission

9) Security Vetting Appeals Panel

10) Senior Salaries Review Body

11) Social Mobility Commission 

Challenges and Recommendations

The report identifies several ongoing challenges for the Cabinet Office:

• Government Efficiency: While the new framework is a positive step, the report notes the difficulty in consistently measuring and reporting efficiency savings across all government departments. The NAO emphasizes the need for a robust and consistent process to ensure accountability.

• Civil Service Reform: The Cabinet Office is leading efforts to modernize the Civil Service, but the report acknowledges the challenge of ensuring all departments adopt a modern, digital-first approach. It highlights that a significant portion of public sector services are still under-digitized, and there is a fragmented approach to technology and data across government.

• Government Property: The report also touches on the extensive government property holdings, noting the significant maintenance backlog across various public sector buildings, including courts, jobcentres, and hospitals. This poses a challenge to service delivery and requires strategic oversight from the Cabinet Office's Office of Government Property.

Summary - the NAO report confirms the Cabinet Office's critical and wide-ranging role in central government. It acknowledges the progress made in areas such as national security and civil service reform but also highlights persistent challenges related to financial oversight, digital transformation, and the management of government assets. The report's findings are intended to support parliamentary scrutiny and encourage ongoing improvements in government efficiency and effectiveness.

Source: Edited by a human being adding one graphic and a summary of the arm's-length bodies, and editing text created from this Gemini query "summarise this document  https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2627-Cabinet-Office-Overview-2023-24-FINAL.pdf in 500 words."

An Overview of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) using financial year 2023-24 data - an NAO report published March 2025

Introduction - The DBT was formed in February 2023, merging the business-related functions of the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with the Department for International Trade.  Its primary mission is to promote economic growth. 

Key Priorities and Achievements - Five key priorities for the DBT in 2023-24 were: 

1) Redraw rules so businesses thrive, markets are competitive, consumers protected.

2) Securing investment from both UK and international businesses. 

3) Supporting and promoting British businesses to grow and export. 

4) Opening new markets by striking trade deals and removing barriers. 

5) Promoting free trade, economic security, and resilient supply chains. 

The DBT reported several achievements, including delivering reforms to address fraud, increasing the National Living Wage, and supporting over 5,200 businesses to achieve more than £36 billion in "Export Wins," a 7% increase from the previous year. I t also supported major international investments, such as Nissan's £2 billion investment in Sunderland. 

Specialist Units within DBT groups

• Centre for Connected & Autonomous Vehicles, joint unit DBT/DFT - to intro such to UK.

• Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate - protects the rights of agency workers.

• Export Control Joint Unit admins UK's export controls/licensing for military & dual use.

• Office for Investment, joint unit DBT/HMT/No.10 to secure significant investment into UK.

• Office for Product Safety & Standards protects people/places from product‑related harm.

• Office for Pay Review Bodies - independent secretariat to 8 public sector pay review bodies.

• Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation - strengthens enforcement of trade sanctions.

• UK Defence & Security Exports - helps companies export & overseas companies invest in.

• UK National Contact Point - promotes OECD guidelines re multinational business conduct.

Financial Overview and Challenges 

The DBT's total group operating expenditure for 2023-24 was £3.4 billion, with total assets of £11.0 billion and liabilities of £12.4 billion. 

The report highlights a significant financial challenge: the Department exceeded its Voted Resource Annually Managed Expenditure limit by £219 million, with an outturn of £1,170 million against an authorised limit of £951 million. 

A major financial commitment for the DBT is providing redress to victims of the Post Office Horizon IT System.  While more redress was committed than originally estimated, the report states the department has sufficient funding to meet its obligations. 

Challenges and Recommendations 

1) Improve engagement with industry. While the department was created to be a "front door" for businesses, many still find it confusing to know which part of the government to approach.

 

2) Clarify its account management processes for both large and small businesses and set out its general support offer more clearly. 

3) Officials don't consistently record their interactions with industry, and its digital platforms aren't accessible to all government departments. 

The report emphasizes that the upcoming Industrial Strategy, which will designate eight growth-driving sectors, will require greater collaboration and communication across government departments to be successful.

Source: Edited by a human being who added in some graphics from the report and a summary of the specialist units, and who also editing text created from this Gemini query "summarise this document https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/department-for-business-overview-2023-24.pdf in 500 words."

Government Departments & organisations must try harder - according to the UK NAO Audit reports not published during the election because of purdah rules

The National Audit Office (NAO) of the UK have just published reports previously planned for release in June and July. The fieldwork for these reports was conducted under the previous government and the reports could not be published during the pre-election period.  

Hat tip for photo via unslpash to Mihály Köles

Below are the links to each of the NAO not issued reports and the takeout paragraph I've chosen from each.  The 2nd summary paragraph below summarises the takeout paragraphs.  The 1st summary paragraph below boils those takeout paragraphs down to what government and the organisaitons if funds need to concentrate on.

1st summary paragraph - In the follwing text read customer as client also. Who is your customer?  What is your strategy to make their lives better? What is your plan to give your customer great advice & support?  Do you know specifically how your £ spend adds value or supports your customers? How well do you know the physical state of your infrastructure?  How do you combine your procurement to get value?  How are you liasing across government/organisations to make what you collectively offer simplier?

2nd summary paragraph - The NHS might break.  HS2 Ltd should deliver value for money.  UK Space Agency needs to be fast and flexible. Farmers need quality advice & support from Defra.  DfE doesn't understand how its £'s help disadvantaged children.  Government doesn't  have a credible alternative to its Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage programme.  DfT doesn't have a good understanding of the condition of local roads. The Buckingham House refurb project is praised for it honesty and engagement.  Streamline the central purchasing system. Government has no strategy or public targets for reducing statutory homelessness.  DWP wants to be customer focussed, its plans are challenging. Simplify the government grants landscape.

NHS financial management and sustainability

Takeout paragraph " When we consider how the health needs of the population look set to increase, we are concerned that the NHS may be working at the limits of a system which might break before it is again able to provide patients with care that meets standards for timeliness and accessibility. "

HS2: update following cancellation of Phase 2

Takeout paragraph "DfT and HS2 Ltd must now take the time needed to properly reset, and set themselves up to deliver value for money from the programme."

The National Space Strategy and the role of the UK Space Agency

Takeout paragraph "The sector is developing at a fast pace, and in planning for the future the government will need to balance the need to provide certainty with the need to be flexible and responsive to new opportunities."

The Farming and Countryside Programme

Takeout paragraph "Farmers need quality advice and support to adapt, but Defra has not yet ensured that they can access what they need. Around half of England’s farmers say they are not at all positive about their future in farming."

Improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children

Takeout paragraph "DfE has evidence to support some of its interventions and uses this to help schools and early years providers to make decisions. However, it does not yet understand the outcomes resulting from a significant proportion of its expenditure on disadvantaged children. It also does not have a fully integrated view of its interventions, or milestones to assess progress and when more may need to be done."

Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage programme

Takeout paragraph "The government does not have and is currently not developing a credible alternative pathway without the use of CCUS. In this context, it is critical that DESNZ succeeds with its CCUS programme if the UK is to achieve its legally binding climate ambitions."

The condition and maintenance of local roads in England

Takeout paragraph "However, at present DfT does not have a good enough understanding of the condition of local roads, and does not use the limited data it does have to allocate its funding as effectively as possible. It does not know whether the funds it allocates are delivering improvements in road condition, and has not updated its guidance to local authorities, to share good practice and help them make the most of their limited funds, for some years."

Progress on the Buckingham Palace Reservicing programme

Takeout paragraph "The Household has worked hard to engage stakeholders within the Palace and through the supply chain, and the Palace has remained operational throughout. The Household has responded well to challenge and assurance, fostering a culture of honesty."

Efficiency in government procurement of common goods and services

Takeout paragraph "The Government Commercial Function (GCF), working in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), should streamline the central purchasing system to deliver better value for money for the public sector."

The effectiveness of government in tackling homelessness

Takeout paragraph "The situation has worsened since we last examined the issue in 2017. Despite the introduction of HRA 2017, homelessness numbers are at a record level and expected to increase. While DLUHC has developed much better homelessness data and stronger links with local authorities, the government still has no strategy or public targets for reducing statutory homelessness, and DLUHC is falling behind on key programmes to improve housing supply. Funding remains fragmented and generally short-term, inhibiting homelessness prevention work and limiting investment in good-quality temporary accommodation or other forms of housing."

DWP customer service

Takeout paragraph "DWP recognises that it needs to transform its services to be a customer-focused organisation. Its modernisation plans are based on a good understanding of the issues that need to be addressed and are necessarily ambitious. However, the scale and complexity of the plans mean delivery is risky, and DWP is unlikely to achieve in the short term the improvements that are needed."

Government’s general grants schemes  

Takeout paragraph "Grant-making departments and arm’s-length bodies can simplify the grants landscape by combining schemes and awards, which government has started doing for grants to local authorities. There is more that the Grants Management Function and departments can do to improve grant-making, achieve efficiencies, support grant practitioners and enhance user experience."

Raac - too little too late - 4 fundamental questions we don't have answers to - and a timeline of what happened when

Below is a timeline I've put together as concerns the Raac issues.  In creating this it seems to me that, in all the excitement about schools and their lightweight concrete roofing, a couple of fundemental questions haven't been asked.

1)  Is the announced Government funding for the temproary accommodation extra to the existing DfE budget, or will it be diverted from existing budgets?

(Photo source UK Parliament website. Used
under Creative Commons)

2) Why is Schools Minister Nick Gibb covering up the fact that DfE's original, (last Thursday's), guidance said schools would have to pay for temporary accommodation?

3) When Goverment departments issue flannel responses saying something like "We're spending £100 more on this issue" why are'nt they challenged on whether that is an increase in real terms, and against what base are they claiming the increase?

4) Did the last decades enormous increase in the number of Academies reporting to DfE  affect their ability to deal with the Raac issues in a timely and appropriate manner?

TIMELINE FOR SCHOOL'S LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE ISSUES

(see foot of timeline for explanations of abbreviations)

1996 BRE says Raac has a 30 lifespan. 

1999 SCOSS urges Raac inspections. 

2002 BRE highlights pre 1980 Raac's excessive problems. 

2010 The Academies Act 2010 seeks to increase the number of academies which are state schools with a funding agreement with DfE.  So they are no longer maintained by the local authority. Like academies, free schools are governed by non-profit charitable trusts that sign funding agreements with DfE.

In 2009/10 there were 133 Academies.  In 2019/20 there were 9200 (source which cites this government site as its source) .  

Did the creation of all these Academies dilute their/DfE ability to deal with the Raac issue in a timely and appropriate manner?

2017 A three-year inspection programme is launched by the government. Part of its aim was to look at materials such as RAAC in schools. 

2018

July 2018 Kent school ceiling collapse of 1979 installed Raac.

Dec 2018 On structures using Raac DfE & LGA urge “check as a matter of urgency”.

2019

May 2019 SCOSS alert on “significant risk” of failure of Raac. 

2021 DfE published a Raac guide. 

2021/22 Between 2009-10 and 2021-22, DfE capital spending declined 50% in real terms. 

2022

Sept 2022 Cabinet Office issues formal warning: Raac “now life-expired and liable to collapse".

Oct 2022 Education minister Lady Barran chases English councils for responses to the March

Baroness Diana Barran MBE

Raac questionnaire saying it's “of the greatest importance” and that buildings with Raac must be monitored “to ensure they remain safe”. 

Dec 2022 DfE’s annual report warns "There is a risk of collapse of one or more blocks in some schools.” 

2023

May DfE identify that Raac might be present in 572 schools in England, but at this point more than 8,000 schools had not been checked. 

June NAO Report on the condition of school, buildings says "Overall, the condition of the school estate is declining, and there are safety concerns about some types of buildings". 

31/8 DfE emails online guidance to Headteachers and others which includes "We expect you to be able to fund anything that is an additional revenue cost, for example rental costs for emergency or temporary accommodation for education settings ..." 

During Thursday there is a strong reaction against this guidance from Headteachers and unions. Overnight the DfE changes their online guidance so it says Government will now fund temporary accommodation.

1/9 Schools minister Nick Gibb says those who read the guidance "got the wrong end of the stick" and says that the costs of emergency and temporary accommodation would be covered by Government. He fails to mention that DfE changed their guidance, that they U-turned (a welcome one). 

Jonathan Slater

 4/9 On the BBC's Radio 4's AM Today news   programme, Jonathan Slater, (DfE permanent   secretary till August 2020), says DfE were   confident a request to increase funding to   rebuild 200 schools (up from 100) would be   agreed after presenting data showing a “critical   risk to life” if the programme wasn't properly   funded. In the year after he left the DfE   Jonathan was "absolutley amazed" that Rishi   Sunak's Treasury halved the school rebuilding   programme from 100 to 50 a year.

 4/9 The PM, Rishi Sunak refutes Jonathan   Slaters claims and says to broadcasters "One of

 the first things I did as chancellor, in my first   spending review in 2020, was to announce a   new 10-year school re-building programme for   500 schools".

(On Rishi Sunak's refuation of Jonathan Slaters points, note that on 29 June 2020 the Government announced what the Education Secretary described in the House as “a 10-year, multi-wave rebuilding programme for schools,” to replace “poor-condition and ageing school buildings, with modern, energy-efficient designs.” The Education Secretary announced £1 billion in capital funding to be spent on 50 initial projects, with work due to begin in autumn 2021.)

The PM then went onto say "If you look at what we have been doing over the previous decade, that's completely in line with what we have always done."  But between 2009-10 and 2021-22, DfE capital spending declined 50% in real terms. 

4/9 Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, apologises after she was caught complaining to a TV reporter that others with responsibility for school repairs had “sat on their arse” rather than act.  

Who could she be thinking of? 

Points on the timeline above above 

1) Notice how, when political/public opinion heat comes onto a topic, definitions of what is capital or revenue spending change.

2) Notice how in all the "we'll fund it " responses nobody is saying there is extra money. So presumably funding will be deverted from new build/rebuild or improvement or maintenance budgets?

3) Notice how politicians talk about how many millions they'e committed, but don't say, when compared with the past, whether that is an increase or decrease in real terms.

4) Notice how explanations of extra money don't take into account whether the school population is increasing or decreasing (see birth rates note below).

5) Birth rates have a significant effect on how much school capacity is needed. For example in 2021/22 some 9 million state-funded school places were reported, some 5 million primary places and 4 million secondary places. The rate of primary places being added has slowed dramatically, due to the reduction in birth rates between 2012 and 2020. However, the rate of secondary places being added has continued at a steady pace, as the peak in school age population moves into secondary. with around 7% of schools exceeding their capacity by 10 or more pupils. 

Abbreviations

BRE = Building Research Establishment 

DfE = Department for Education

LGA = Local Goverment Association 

NAO = National Audit Office

Raac = reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete - a cheap lightweight alternative to traditional concrete mixes 

SCOSS = Standing Committee on Structural Safety (House of Lords) 

Sources 

- various Telegraph, Independent, Guardian newspaper online articles

- House Of Commons Library "School Buildings and capital funding (England)" research briefing

- NAO Report on the condition of school buildings

7 #PoliticalTactics used in responses to NAO investigation into English government procurement during COVID-19

The 7 #PoliticalTactics are: 1) Answer the question you wanted to be asked rather than the question you were asked; 2) Welcome a report and its recommendations (Notice this isn't the same as agreeing with the report); 3) Don't agree that what happened was sub-standard; 4) Don't agree you should have known it was sub-standard; 5) Don't agree to any action plan to make sure this doesn't happen in future; 6) Don't agree that individuals may have financially benefitted themselves or friends through such sub-standard actions and finally 7) from the you tube clip above - Claim you are feeling an emotion directly opposite to what you should be feeling.  So if you should be ashamed say you are proud, if you should be unsure say you are confident and so on, sad/happy, depressed/jubilant, anger/calm 

On Radio 4's today programme on 18/11/20 they reported about how the government's spending watchdog ( The National Audi Office - [NAO]  )

1) Ministers set aside normal standards of tranparency as they scrambled to secure PPE at the start of COVID-19

2) £18 billion worth of contracts were awarded under emergency rules that bypassed the normal  competitive tendering process

3) Firms recommended by MPs, ministers offices or Health Chiefs were given priority and fast tracked

4) NAO said even in an emergency, it remained essential to public trust, for the government to document why it had chosen a supplier and how it had managed any particular conflicts of interest - yet in a sample of 20 cases it found repeated failure to do so.

5) In one of the cases - Public First - a focus group organiser - whose owners had previously worked for Cabinet Office Minsiter Michael Gove and alongside Dominic Cummings - Boris Johnson's then top advisor - yet the Cabinet Office failed to document any consideration of any potential conflict of interest"

The response of one of the companies so hired  - Public First - was that "It was hired on a pay as you go arrangement that meant it could be fired if it didn't perform well"  A classic example of the #PoliticalTrick of  - Answer the question you wanted to be asked rather than the question you were asked.  So in this case I'll bet they weren't asked "What happens if you don't perform well?" and were actually asked something like "Why was your company chosen for this contract?" 

The Cabinet Office response was that "It welcomed the NAOs scrutiny and its recommendations for improvement, but declined to comment on the case of Public First".  A great example of some #PoliticalTricks when dealing with a report or review that says what you've done or allowed to happen is sub-standard.  So:

- welcome a report and its recommendations (Notice this isn't the same as agreeing with the report)

- don't agree that what happened was sub-standard

- don't agree you should have known it was sub-standard

- don't agree to any action plan to make sure this doesn't happen in future

- don't agree that individuals may have financially benefitted themselves or friends through such sub-standard actions 

Previous posts on #PoliticalTactics

30 Oct 2020 Corbyns response to EHRC's antisemitism report - The 5 #PoliticalTactics are: 1) I'm the victim here; 2) It's somebody else's fault; 3) I don't accept all the points, 4) There is a conspiracy against me; 5) Simply ignore the most damaging points.

#Universal #Credit - Early Progress #Report by #NAO - not value for money in its early implementation

So the NAO has just posted today a progress report on this £2.4bn (to 2023) project which the Department for Work & Pensions is undertaking with the help of  Accenture, IBM, HP and BT. 

The NAO's conclusions don't make pretty reading - in summary they are:

- value for money in the early implementation has not been achieved;

- the programmes timetable and scope were over ambitious, risks were taken to try and achieve them, there wasn't an explanation of how the plans had been decided upon on and their feasibility wasn't evaluated;

- a new "agile" project management approach (typically used in small collaborative teams) was used on a project which grew to over 1000 people - and such an approach had never before been used on a programme of this size and complexity (the Agile approach uses iterative and collaborative project management);

- there was an absence of a detailed view of how Universal Credit was meant to work (you can see how this might lead to some problems in implementing a large IT system);

- there was poor control and decision-making which undermined confidence in the programme and contributed to a lack of progress;

- there was a lack of IT expertise and senior leadership and frequent changes in senior management (5 senior responsible owners since mid 2012)

The NAO's recommendations focus unsurprisingly on: Producing a  realistic plan with clear programme objectives, linked to policy design & service requirements; Using a management approach that allows policy experts, operational teams & systems developers to work together; establish effective governance processes & structures; Tightening financial management & control over spending; Re-assessing existing programmes & capabilities in light of the experience on Universal Credit.


But what was the root cause of the failures found and underlying issues identified?


In my opinion much of what has gone on seems to have been caused by a familiar story as concerns large projects and early announcements about them being:

-  initiated by high flying strategy wonks who are largely driven by political or news management imperatives and who won't be in the firing line if it all goes horribly wrong;

- based on little consultation with implementation grunts and a surprisingly low level of specific detail in the feasibility studies upon which the announced costs and timescales are based.


In other words - if you want to give a project a good chance of succeeding then have a detailed scope with corresponding cost and programme estimates 


(ht to wikipedia for the image)

#6keyissues in #nao financial stability of local authorities report

the pdf of the executive summary and full report of the 30/1/13 nao report on this subject can be found here

in summary what struck me from the report was the following:

- authorities still need to find 1/2 of the savings required in the period April 2011 to March 2015  (overall in that period there is a 14% (real) reduction in local authorities income from central government)

- FDs think the largest savings will come through efficiencies;

- the provisions of the Localism Act 2011 have yet to be used in anger as concerns holding referendum when council tax is increased above certain thresholds sets by central government;

- the government attached the highest priority to adult social services in deciding one of the key elements of the formula determining the distribution of grant but in practice in the 3 years ending 2012-13, the lowest reduction in local authority spending was for children’s services (some local authorities attributed this to increased demand for children’s services and concern to avoid the human and reputational risks attached to the failure of that service);

- changes concerning the partial localisation of business rates and arrangements for council tax benefits may expose councils more to income reductions;

- 12% of local authorities are at ongoing risk of been unable to balance their budget in future financial years