The Sub-Committee's scrutiny programme

1. The Treasury Sub-Committee undertakes a regular scrutiny programme of the administration and expenditure of the Chancellor's departments. In addition to annual hearings with HM Treasury itself and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the Sub-Committee has regularly taken evidence from the Office for National Statistics, the Statistics Commission, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), National Savings & Investments, the Debt Management Office (DMO), the Royal Mint, the Adjudicator's Office, the Government Actuary's Department and the Valuation Office Agency. The hearings that the Sub-Committee has held in the last Parliament and in the present Parliament are summarised in Table 1.

2. Previously in this Parliament, we have not reported specifically on the Sub-Committee's scrutiny programme. In April 2007, the Liaison Committee remarked that it was "vitally important" that those select committees that did not then report regularly on their scrutiny of expenditure should take steps to do so.[1] Partly in the light of this, we have decided to report on the Sub-Committee's scrutiny of administration and expenditure issues in the Chancellor's departments in 2006-07.

3. There are too many departments for the Sub-Committee to take evidence from all of them every year. In examining administration and expenditure issues in 2006-07, the Sub-Committee chose to concentrate on the OGC, the Royal Mint, the Office of the Adjudicator, HM Treasury and HMRC. As part of the work leading to this Report, the Sub-Committee has taken evidence from Mr Nigel Smith, the Chief Executive of the OGC, Mr David Barrass, then Deputy Master and Chief Executive of the Royal Mint and his successor, Mr Andrew Stafford, Mr Nicholas Macpherson, the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, Dame Barbara Mills DBE, the Adjudicator and Mr Dave Hartnett, Acting Chairman of HMRC. The Sub-Committee concluded its inquiry by taking evidence from Rt Hon Jane Kennedy MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and Angela Eagle MP, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, on themes and issues arising from the previous scrutiny sessions. We are grateful to all those who assisted the Sub-Committee in the course of its inquiry.

Relevant documents

4. The scrutiny sessions the Sub-Committee has held have been based largely on the published Reports and Accounts of the Treasury, HMRC and other bodies subject to examination.[2] In preparing this Report, we have also drawn upon the following relevant documents and information:

• Correspondence between the then Financial Secretary to the Treasury and the Chairman of this Committee relating to a pilot study of a merged Departmental Annual Report and Resource Accounts, which is published with this Report;[3]
• Correspondence between Mr Macpherson and the Chairman of this Committee relating to the Treasury's Public Service Agreements (PSAs) and Departmental Strategic Objectives (DSOs), which we published with a previous Report;[4]
• Memoranda and supplementary information submitted to us by the Treasury and HMRC relating to the Winter Supplementary Estimates for 2006-07, which is published with this Report;[5]
• The Capability Reviews of the Treasury and HMRC, which were published in December 2007;[6]
• The Autumn Performance Reports of the Treasury and HMRC, which were published in December 2007;[7] and
• The Treasury's Value for Money Delivery Agreement and Departmental Strategic Objectives, also published in December 2007.[8]

The approach of this Report

5. We have chosen to be selective in the issues which we examine in this Report. We or the Sub-Committee may return to some issues covered in evidence in subsequent work. In particular, data losses by HMRC, a matter raised in the sessions with HMRC and the Ministers, will be examined during a separate inquiry by the main Committee.

1. The first four chapters of this Report relate principally to the Treasury itself, along with the Royal Mint and the OGC. The next chapter examines the Treasury Group's resources, and the performance of Royal Mint. Chapter 3 looks at the role of the Treasury at the centre of Government. Chapter 4 explores the work of the OGC. Chapter 5 concentrates on aspects of the Treasury's performance in relation to its PSA targets, and also examines the Treasury's new DSOs. Chapter 6 explores HMRC's performance in relation to the efficiency programme and its PSA targets, and also examines HMRC's new Departmental Strategic Objectives.

2   HM Treasury, Annual Report and Accounts 2006-07, June 2007, HC (2006-07) 518; HM Revenue & Customs, Departmental Report 2007, May 2007, Cm 7107; The Royal Mint, Annual Report and Accounts 2006-07, June 2007, HOC (2006-07) 543 Back

3   Ev 74-75 Back

4   Treasury Committee, First Report of Session 2007-08, The 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, HC 55, Ev 21-34 Back

5   Ev 76-81; Ev 92-95 Back

6   Cabinet Office, Capability Review of HM Treasury, December 2007; Cabinet Office, Capability Review of HM Revenue and Customs, December 2007. Back

7   HM Treasury, Autumn Performance Report: Progress Report on HM Treasury Public Service Agreement Targets, December 2007, Cm 7256; HM Revenue & Customs, Autumn Performance Report, December 2007 Back

8   HM Treasury, Value for Money: Delivery agreement and asset management strategy, December 2007; HM Treasury, HM Treasury Group Departmental Strategic Objectives -2008-2011, December 2007 Back