Corporate report

Cabinet Office Accounting Officer System Statement 2023 (HTML)

Updated 18 March 2024

Scope of the system

I am the Principal Accounting Officer for the Cabinet Office, the Civil Service Superannuation and the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme.

This system statement sets out all of the accountability relationships and processes within the department, making clear who is accountable for what, at all levels of the system. It replaces the version previously published in 2022.

The Cabinet Office exists to support the Prime Minister and cabinet government. It leads and coordinates the government’s response to cross-departmental challenges. It also acts as the corporate headquarters for the government as a whole. The department is both the command centre during immediate crises as well as the long-term steward and direction-setter for government.

The department is responsible for reforming the civil service and improving efficiency, coordinating and leading the work of other departments in pursuit of cross-cutting outcomes.

Our purpose is achieved through our priority outcomes. The most recent iteration of the priority outcomes is:

• Outcome 1 - Seize the opportunities of European Union (EU) Exit through creating the world’s most effective border to increase UK prosperity and enhance security
• Outcome 2 - Secure a safe, prosperous and resilient UK by coordinating national security and crisis response, realising strategic advantage through science and technology, and the implementation of the Integrated Review
• Outcome 3 - Advance equality of opportunity across the UK
• Outcome 4 - Increase the efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of government through modernising and reforming the work of the Government Functions
• Outcome 5 - Support the design and implementation of the Government’s and Prime Minister’s priorities

The Minister for the Cabinet Office and other ministers within the department have a duty to Parliament to account, and be held to account, for the policies, decisions and actions of this department and its agencies. They look to me as the department’s Principal Accounting Officer to delegate within the department to deliver their agenda, and to support them in making policy decisions and handling public funds.

As Principal Accounting Officer, I am personally responsible for safeguarding the public funds for which I have been given charge under the supply estimate and ensuring that resources authorised by Parliament and sums paid from the Consolidated Fund to the Cabinet Office are used for the purposes intended by Parliament.

I have appointed as accounting officers:

• the Chief Executive of the Government Property Agency, an executive agency
• the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, a corporation sole
• the Chief Executive of the Civil Service Commission, a non-departmental public body with executive powers
• the Chief Executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, a non-departmental public body with executive powers

HM Treasury has appointed the Chief Executive of the Crown Commercial Service, an executive agency and trading fund, as its accounting officer.

The statement covers the core department, its executive agencies, its arm’s length bodies and other arm’s length relationships. It describes accountability for all expenditure of public money through my department’s estimate, all public money raised as income, and the management of shareholdings, financial investments and other publicly owned assets for which I am responsible.

This system statement helps me ensure that I am fulfilling my responsibilities as an accounting officer, in accordance with HM Treasury’s guidance set out in Managing Public Money. The statement describes the accountability system which is in place at the date of this statement, and which will continue to apply until a revised statement is published.

Alex Chisholm

Civil Service Chief Operating Officer, Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary and Principal Accounting Officer

Departmental structure and responsibilities

The Cabinet Office works closely with three arm’s length bodies - the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Civil Service Commission and the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists - and two executive agencies - the Government Property Agency and Crown Commercial Service (a trading fund) - in addition to a number of other public bodies.

The core department is organised in line with the department’s five priority outcomes. Each of these outcomes is made up of  various business units which have primary budget holders that receive delegated responsibility and accountability for use of resources in their area. Primary budget holders may sub-delegate this responsibility further depending on the nature of the area that they manage. The outcomes and primary budget areas in the core department are:

Outcome 1

• Borders, Trade and Brexit Opportunities Unit

Outcome 2

• Government Security Group
• Joint Intelligence Organisation
• Intelligence and Security Committee

Outcome 3

• Equality Hub
• Equality and Human Rights Commission

Outcome 4

• Civil Service Modernisation and Reform
• Central Digital and Data Office
• Government People Group
• Government Communication Service
• Government Digital Service
• Infrastructure and Projects Authority
• Office of Government Property
• Government Property Agency
• Public Sector Fraud Authority
• Government Commercial Function

Outcome 5

• Economic and Domestic Secretariat
• Government in Parliament Group
• National Security Secretariat
• Office for Veterans’ Affairs
• Propriety and Constitution Group
• Civil Service Commission
• Office for the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists

Corporate Enablers

• Chief Operating Officer’s Office
• Cabinet Office People & Places
• Cabinet Office Strategy, Finance and Performance
• Chief Digital and Information Office
• Cabinet Office Analysis
• Public Bodies Reform Programme

The Grenfell Inquiry, Infected Blood Inquiry and COVID-19 Inquiry are also funded through the Cabinet Office. The inquiries are independent of the Cabinet Office.

Since the last statement, published in 2022, the Geospatial Commission moved into the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Departmental spending

Parliament has voted the following resource and capital budget for the Cabinet Office in 2023-24 as published in the Central Government Main Supply Estimates 2023-24 (HC 1383).

Estimate line	Amount (£m)
A: Seize the opportunities of Brexit through creating the world’s most effective border to increase UK prosperity and enhance security	17.1
B: Secure a safe, prosperous and resilient UK by coordinating national security and crisis response, realising strategic advantage through science and technology, and the implementation of the Integrated Review	49.3
C: Advance equality of opportunity across the UKacross the UK	17.0
D: Increase the efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of government through modernising and reforming work of the Government Functions	447.3
E: Support the design and implementation of HM Government’s policies and the Prime Minister’s priorities	402.9
F: Executive Agency - Government Property Agency	361.5
G: Arm’s length bodies	20.6
Total	1,315.7

Responsibilities within the core department

As Principal Accounting Officer, I gain comprehensive assurance from various accountability arrangements. The Cabinet Office Board, Executive Committee and the Cabinet Office Audit and Risk Committee are served by the ‘Three Lines of Defence’ model and receive external assurance from the National Audit Office.

Three lines of defence

The first line of defence is provided by operational management who identify, assess, own and mitigate risks and are responsible for implementing corrective actions to address process and control deficiencies. The second line of defence is represented by corporate services who oversee management activity and define the policies and procedures within which managers operate. The third line of defence is internal audit which provides assurance over governance and risk management achieved by the first and second lines of defence.

The department’s three lines of defence assurance approach examines the department’s controls at both a business unit level (first line) and through cross‑cutting corporate control themes (second line). The themes and their compliance requirements have been captured in a set of business rules that detail the accountabilities of budget holders. This forms part of the delegation process from the Principal Accounting Officer. A pledge from budget holders is submitted in response to the delegations and to confirm receipt of the business rules to state that the controls are understood. The control themes are monitored via a self-assessment process with results reviewed by Corporate Services.

Governance structure

Internal governance

Governance element	Role and responsibilities
Cabinet Office Board	Chaired by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Provides the collective strategic and operational leadership of the department, bringing together ministers and senior members of the executive leadership team with non-executive board members from outside government. Provides advice on strategy, monitors performance and advises on significant risks. Ensures there is oversight in place to scrutinise the performance and risk management of the department’s sponsored bodies (arm’s length bodies, commissions and inquiries).
Nominations Committee	Chaired by the Department Lead Non Executive. Ensures there are satisfactory systems for identifying and developing leadership and high potential, scrutinising the incentive structure and succession planning for the board and the senior leadership of the department.
Executive Committee	The senior executive leadership group, chaired by the Permanent Secretary. Sets the leadership expectations, culture and tone for the department, makes collective decisions on corporate issues, and actively monitors departmental delivery and performance.
Performance and Risk Committee	Co-chaired by the Government Chief Commercial Officer and the Permanent Secretary of the Government in Parliament Group. Monitors, reviews and challenges performance of the department against the Outcome Delivery Plan, business as usual, and emerging priorities. Reviews departmental risk and scrutinises the mitigations in place to ensure they are robust.
People and Operations Committee	Co-chaired by the Chief Operating Officer and Government Chief Property Officer. The committee has oversight and drives tangible change through monitoring key metrics and recommendations on improvement. Focuses on the department’s inclusion and diversity programme, an action plan to tackle bullying, harassment and discrimination, staff wellbeing and implementing inclusive hybrid working practices. Additionally looks at the Cabinet Office’s future location plans and developing programmes to enable digital transformation and corporate services improvement.
Resilience and Security Committee	Co–chaired by the Chief Operating Officer and the Director General, Cabinet Secretary Group. This newly established subcommittee will formulate overarching strategies to mitigate risk, deliver security improvements and oversee the strategic information, physical, personnel, and cyber security across the department. Remit also includes oversight of the information risk governance framework; setting security standards and requirements and oversight of their implementation; reviewing serious information security incidents and agreeing remedial action; security risk management; business continuity and resilience matters.
Cabinet Office Approvals Board	Chaired by the Chief Operating Officer. Scrutiny and approval of spending proposals by ministers and senior officials on behalf of the Principal Accounting Officer. Reviews and approves proposals above £1 million or where spend is novel or contentious or the review has been requested by the relevant director general. Reviews and approves consultancy spend of a minimum £10,000 or with a minimum duration of three months as part of the consultancy control. Reviews and approves professional services spend of a minimum of £50,000 or with a minimum duration of three months as part of the professional services control. Further approval is required from HM Treasury where whole-life spend exceeds £15 million.
Cabinet Office Audit and Risk Committee (COARC)	Chaired by a non-executive board member. Supports the Cabinet Office Board and Accounting Officer by providing an independent view of the department’s financial statements, governance, risk management and internal control arrangements. Reviews and makes recommendations on the approval of the annual report and accounts for the Cabinet Office, Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, Civil Service Superannuation and Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme.
Government Internal Audit Agency	Carries out a programme of reviews throughout the year into all aspects of governance, risk and control arrangements.  Report recommendations are translated into actions which are agreed with the department. Agreed actions are tracked by the department and progress on implementation is reported to the Executive Committee and COARC each quarter. At the end of each financial year the Head of Internal Audit provides an independent opinion on the adequacy and effectiveness of the department’s governance, risk and control arrangements.

External governance

Governance element	Role and responsibilities
National Audit Office (NAO)	Carries out a programme of reviews of the department’s work, including value for money investigations. Audit report recommendations are translated into actions with progress on implementation tracked and reported to the Executive Committee and COARC each quarter. Responsible for the external audit of the department’s annual report and accounts.
Public Accounts Committee	May hold a hearing in relation to any NAO value for money report or specific areas of spend within the department. Following a PAC report, the government response, in the form of a Treasury Minute, is provided to HM Treasury by the department. Progress against agreed actions to address recommendations is tracked and reported to the Executive Committee and COARC each quarter and a progress report is provided to HM Treasury bi-annually.

Further details of the department’s governance structure can be found in the Governance Report in the Annual Report and Accounts for 2022-23.

Relationships with arm’s length bodies and other bodies

Governance arrangements of arm’s length bodies and other bodies are reviewed at intervals. There are sponsor teams set up across the department to support all Cabinet Office arm’s length bodies in accordance with the sponsorship code of good practice.  The sponsor teams work closely with their arm’s length bodies so that they have key departmental support and the department can be assured of their continued delivery.

Executive agencies

Government Property Agency

The Government Property Agency (GPA) is an executive agency of the Cabinet Office and exists to provide a single Civil Service office and warehouse estate managed for the benefit of government. The concentration of property and commercial expertise within the GPA allows departments to focus on their core business of delivering public services. The GPA is working across departments to transform the estate to support Civil Service transformation, regional growth and the government’s vision to strengthen the union. This is done through making best use of space; supporting the introduction of smarter working; improving customer satisfaction through people-focused workplace services; and delivering economies of scale and improved commercial outcomes on major market transactions with the property industry. This has a direct benefit in maximising capital receipts, generating income and mitigating both costs and risks.

The GPA recovers its costs primarily through charging for the properties which are under its management, as well for other services provided to public sector clients. It seeks funding for capital investment in the estate, to improve its efficiency and effectiveness and to drive revenue savings and other benefits.

Assurance

The Chief Executive of the GPA has been designated as its accounting officer. The GPA Board is responsible for advising the Chief Executive and sponsor department on the strategic direction of the GPA and providing appropriate governance. A sponsor team is responsible for day to day monitoring of the GPA. This is split between the Office of Government Property, which provides policy sponsorship, and UK Government Investments, which provides a shareholder function. These enhanced sponsorship arrangements provide more robust oversight of the GPA. The GPA has its own Audit and Risk Committee, whose Chair will meet the Chair of the Cabinet Office Audit and Risk Committee once a year to discuss governance, risk and internal control.

In addition, the GPA has its own Investment Committee, which follows prescribed processes for reviewing, challenging and approving spending decisions. The GPA Investment Committee approves expenditure between £0.25 million and £15 million. Anything over £15 million is subsequently authorised by the GPA Board before onward submission to HM Treasury.

The GPA publishes its own accounts and these are consolidated into the accounts of the Cabinet Office group.

Crown Commercial Service

The Cabinet Office holds public dividend capital in the Crown Commercial Service, an executive agency and a trading fund under the Government Trading Funds Act 1973.

The Crown Commercial Service provides commercial and procurement expertise and services to government and the wider public sector. All resource to run the agency is raised through the trading fund. Crown Commercial Service information is not consolidated into the Cabinet Office group accounts. Income is earned from payments made by customers or suppliers for its products and services.

Assurance

The Crown Commercial Service produces its own annual report and accounts, and has its own chief executive and accounting officer. The CCS Board supports and challenges the accounting officer on matters of strategic importance to the agency. In addition, the board is responsible for endorsing the agency’s strategy and annual business plan, and scrutinising and endorsing major business cases of above £2 million prior to approval by the accounting officer and other central government controls. Monthly performance and finance reports enable the board to review progress against strategic objectives, budgets and key programmes.

There are four subcommittees of the CCS Board: the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, Customer Committee, Technology and Digital Transformation Committee and the Senior Appointments and People Committee. The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee advises the board and accounting officer on the comprehensiveness and reliability of assurances on governance, risk management, the control environment and the integrity of the annual report and accounts. The Customer Committee provides guidance, challenge and support to the agency’s leadership team against its strategic priorities to grow its coverage and influence, deepen its impact, and enable better outcomes through focusing on customer, service and products. The Technology and Digital Transformation Committee reviews the agency’s digital and technology strategy and key digital transformation programmes. The Senior Appointments and People Committee ensures that resourcing, succession planning and developmental strategies are in place for senior leadership roles within the Crown Commercial Service.

In addition, the Executive Board, led by the Chief Executive, manages the delivery of the Crown Commercial Service’s strategic aims and provides leadership to the organisation. The Executive Board is supported by internal boards covering people and health and safety, and finance and approvals.

Non-departmental public bodies with executive powers

Civil Service Commission

The Civil Service Commission is an executive non-departmental public body of the Cabinet Office, led by the First Civil Service Commissioner. The Civil Service Commission regulates recruitment to the Civil Service. It also helps promote the Civil Service values of honesty, integrity, objectivity and impartiality, and hears complaints under the Civil Service Code.

It has its own accounting officer (its Chief Executive), an Audit and Risk Committee and publishes its own accounts which are consolidated into the accounts of the Cabinet Office. The Civil Service Commission is funded by grant-in-aid from the Cabinet Office, overseen by a Cabinet Office sponsor team. Its powers are laid down in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 and there is a memorandum of understanding between the Cabinet Office and the Commission which sets out how the two organisations work together.

The Civil Service Commission is host to the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, which is a statutory body, and also to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which is an advisory non-departmental public body.  Both publish regular reports setting out their role and activities and the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments publishes a Code of Practice. The budget for both of these bodies is included within the Civil Service Commission’s budget and falls within the accountability of its accounting officer.

Equality and Human Rights Commission

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is a statutory non-departmental public body, which operates independently of government. It was established by the Equality Act 2006.  It is Great Britain’s national equality body and has been awarded an ‘A’ status as a National Human Rights Institution by the United Nations.

The commission is sponsored by the Government Equalities Office and receives its funding through grant-in-aid. Representatives of the sponsoring department are invited to observe meetings of both the Board of Commissioners and the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.

A framework agreement sets out the commission’s relationship with the Cabinet Office and how it operates independently. This is consistent with the provisions of the Equality Act 2006 and ensures that the commission is able to fulfil its statutory functions while remaining accountable for corporate performance and use of public funds.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission publishes its own annual report and accounts, which is laid before Parliament by the department. The annual accounts are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and are consolidated into the accounts of the Cabinet Office.

Assurance

The Chief Executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission is appointed as its accounting officer and has responsibility for maintaining a sound system of internal control that safeguards public funds and the commission’s assets.

The commission is overseen by a Board of Commissioners, who are appointed by the Minister for Women and Equalities with the consent of the government. The board has responsibility for setting the strategic direction of the commission. It approves the strategic plan, holds the chief executive and staff to account, and is responsible for ensuring that the commission demonstrates high standards of corporate governance.

The Board of Commissioners has established an Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, which supports the board and accounting officer by providing advice and assurance on risk management, governance and internal control. The commission maintains its own arrangements for internal audit, in accordance with HM Treasury’s ‘Public Sector Internal Audit Standards’. This service is currently provided by TIAA Limited who report directly to the accounting officer.

Advisory non-departmental public bodies

These small advisory bodies receive their funding directly from the Cabinet Office and each has a sponsor team within the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office Accounting Officer has overall responsibility for regularity, propriety and efficient use of funds within these bodies:

The Security Vetting Appeals Panel is an independent avenue of appeal for Civil Service staff and contractors whose security clearance has been refused or withdrawn.

The Senior Salaries Review Body provides independent advice to the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Defence, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the Home Secretary on the pay of senior civil servants, the judiciary, senior officers of the armed forces, certain senior managers in the NHS, Police and Crime Commissioners and chief police officers.

The Committee on Standards in Public Life advises the Prime Minister on ethical standards across the whole of public life in England. It monitors and reports on issues relating to the standards of conduct of all public office holders.

The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments considers applications under the business appointment rules about new jobs for former ministers, senior civil servants and other Crown servants.

The House of Lords Appointments Commission is an independent, advisory, non-departmental public body established in May 2000. The Commission has two main functions:

• to recommend individuals for appointment as non-party-political life peers, and

• to vet nominations for life peers, including those nominated by the UK political parties, to ensure the highest standards of propriety.

The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) is an independent statutory body which exists to create a United Kingdom where the circumstances of birth do not determine outcomes in life. It is responsible for publishing an annual report setting out the progress made towards improving social mobility in the United Kingdom; promoting social mobility in England, for example, by challenging employers, the professions, universities and schools to play their part in promoting social mobility; carrying out and publishing research in relation to social mobility; and providing advice to ministers (at their request) on how to improve social mobility in England - this advice must then be published. The SMC is an advisory non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Cabinet Office.

Expert Committees

Main Honours Committee

The honours committees are made up of senior civil servants (‘official members’) and people who are independent of government (‘independent members’). All honours committees have a majority of members who are independent. Each honours committee has an independent chairperson. A representative from 10 Downing Street is invited to attend all committee meetings. Honours committees review honours nominations for people involved in specific activities (like arts and media or sport) which are then sent to the Main Honours Committee.

Statutory Offices

Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists

The Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists is a corporation sole, set up following the Transparency of Lobbying, Non Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014. It is focused on ensuring there is transparency in the work of consultant lobbyists and their engagement with Ministers and Permanent Secretaries on behalf of clients.

The Registrar, who is also the Accounting Officer, is an independent office holder, responsible for keeping and publishing the Register of Consultant Lobbyists; making sure that the industry is following the requirement to register; and publishing detailed guidance for industry about their duties under the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014.

The Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists is funded through the Cabinet Office Main Estimate. Income from registration fees from consultant lobbyists is paid into the Consolidated Fund. The Registrar publishes a Statement of Accounts which is consolidated into the accounts of the Cabinet Office.

The Office of the Commissioner of Public Appointments

The Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments regulates the processes by which ministers make appointments to the boards of national and regional public bodies. The Commissioner aims to ensure that such appointments are made on merit after a fair, open and transparent process.

Non-Ministerial Department

UK Statistics Authority

Cabinet Office Ministers hold residual responsibilities relating to the UK Statistics Authority, but the Cabinet Office is not responsible for its estimate, which is overseen by HM Treasury. UK Statistics Authority financial information is therefore not consolidated into the Cabinet Office group accounts.

The UK Statistics Authority is an independent statutory body, which operates at arm’s length from government. The authority was established as a non-ministerial department under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and reports directly to the UK Parliament and devolved legislatures. The authority has the statutory objective of promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good.

The UK Statistics Authority Board is responsible for overseeing the authority’s statutory objective and the independence of the statistical system. The Chair of the UK Statistics Authority Board is appointed by the Crown following a Parliamentary hearing and a recommendation from the Prime Minister. The National Statistician, who sits on the board and is also appointed by the Crown, is the government’s principal adviser on official statistics. The National Statistician is also the Head of the Government Analysis Function (including the Government Statistical Service) and is the UK Statistics Authority’s Chief Executive and independent Accounting Officer.

Third party delivery partnerships

This section covers delivery partnerships with commercial or civil society organisations. The Cabinet Office does not have any material third party relationships in place which are not described within the ‘Major contracts and outsourced services’ section below.

Grants to private and voluntary sector bodies

The department publishes guidance on the ten minimum grants functional standards to ensure best practice is managed across all government departments. It maintains the Government Grant Information System and publishes the annual government grants register. The Cabinet Office administers grant payments in line with this guidance and HM Treasury’s guidance on Managing Public Money.

Assurance

All Cabinet Office grants have a named senior responsible officer. Grant funding requires the completion of a robust business case, which sets out outputs and long-term outcomes, along with a completed fraud risk assessment. All new high value and complex grants are considered for referral to the Complex Grants Advice Panel for review. All business cases over £1 million are considered for approval by the Cabinet Office Approvals Board and HM Treasury. All business cases below £1 million are considered by the delegated budget holder for the relevant area.

All grants are subject to the internal approvals process before a formal commitment is made. The department uses standard grant agreements for most grants, which are approved by those with delegated authority to spend. Grant sponsors may obtain a corporate governance assurance statement from the grant’s recipient. The statement is required to monitor the performance of the grants, including conducting due diligence checks and yearly reviews as part of the year-end audit process. Training is available to all those involved in the development and administration of grants.

Major contracts and outsourced services

The Cabinet Office has a number of large contracts with suppliers that represent a material proportion of the department’s spend. The details of these contracts are set out below.

As part of its Corporate Services, the Cabinet Office has a central Commercial team which partners with business units to provide professional commercial advice and support. This team also supports HM Treasury. This helps to ensure the departments procure and manage their contracts effectively and that they comply with public procurement regulations, government policy and applicable standards. Authority to sign contracts for Cabinet Office is delegated from the Accounting Officer to the Commercial Director.

Cabinet Office policy is to use pre-existing frameworks to purchase goods and services where the estimated total value of the requirement is £10,000 (excluding VAT) or over. The procurement of these contracts is delivered by the Crown Commercial Service, who will advise on the appropriate route to market via a procurement strategy report. Where frameworks are not available or appropriate, a tender process is organised to identify the best value for money supplier.

Contracts for services to the public

Civil Service Pensions

Cabinet Office currently contracts with MyCSP Limited to administer the Civil Service pension arrangements. The Cabinet Office ran a procurement exercise during 2023 for the contract to administer the Scheme and following a robust and open process Capita Business Services Ltd was awarded the contract in November 2023 to come into effect in December 2025 for seven years, with an option to extend the contract by a further period of up to three years. There will now be a period of up to two years to transition to the new administration solution.

Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme

The Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme is administered by Capita. The contract was awarded in 2017, going live on 1 October 2018, for five years and the option has been taken up to extend this contract for another year. This contract is in the process of being re-procured.

Digital

The Government Digital Service currently has several ongoing contracts with third-party providers to provision it’s Digital Identity Platforms. The Digital Identity One Login product is currently in private beta and is being rolled out across government in 2023 and 2024. Third-party services are leveraged where it is most cost effective to do so, for example providing credit reference checks which the Government Digital Service is not resourced to do. These services are used to assure user credentials and verify their identities, as well as providing coinciding support, enabling access to online public services owned by other government departments.

All procurements have followed relevant regulations and Government Commercial Function and Crown Commercial Service best practices, including the use, where appropriate, of the G-Cloud 12 and the Digital Outcomes and Specialists frameworks. For its identity checking contracts, the Government Digital Service has agreed a volumetric pricing model including volumetric discounts, while also avoiding guaranteed minimums, reducing risk and ensuring value for money. Supplier performance and adherence to terms is monitored via regular contract management sessions where issues such as invoicing, progress and performance, risk tracking and blockers are discussed.

Contracts for back office outsourcing

Shared services

Government has a contract with Shared Services Connected Ltd to provide shared services through an independent shared service centre. The framework has a current call-off value in excess of £1 billion, providing back office service to over 250,000 employees in the Civil Service and Metropolitan Police Service, including Cabinet Office staff. The contractual services include finance, payroll, recruitment, and government purchasing (totalling around £50 billion worth of transactions processed annually). The charging regime and associated service consumption data is subject to extensive audit and assurance, as are the supplier’s control systems for security and fraud prevention. Unit prices and baseline volumes are fixed for the contract term but with benchmarking and open-book provisions built into the contract.

Facilities management

For estates services, the Cabinet Office has a contract with the Government Property Agency. All office accommodation and related workplace services are supplied through them and the contracts that they hold.

Contracts for the Government Skills and Curriculum Unit (GSCU)

The GSCU sits within Government People Group and its main aim is to ensure there is a coherent government campus and curriculum that ensures better training, knowledge and networks for civil servants across all departments. The unit includes the central learning delivery team, which ensures departments can all access the cross-Civil Service curriculum, off the shelf learning, bespoke design and delivery coaching, and subject matter expertise. The current contracts are with Ernst & Young and KPMG.

Performance and delivery of these contracts is managed by a dedicated team within GSCU, supported by the Cabinet Office commercial team to ensure contracts are managed in line with Government Commercial Function guidance and best practice.

The Civil Service Apprenticeship Unit (part of GSCU) has 16 central contracts that are accessible by various departments across the Civil Service to deliver apprenticeship training. They are managed by a dedicated team within the Apprenticeship Unit.

The Major Projects Leadership Academy and Orchestrating Major Projects programme is managed by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority in the Cabinet Office and delivered by the Saïd Business School. Building strong project leadership capability, particularly across the Government Major Projects Portfolio remains a critical priority for government and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority has addressed this priority by delivering key leadership programmes since 2012. The ongoing delivery costs (academic fees) are paid directly by departments to the supplier through participant fees.

Government Communication Service

Part of the role of the Government Communication Service is to design and deliver campaigns for major cross-government activity in response to national issues such as UK Transition, COVID-19, the Russia/Ukraine conflict and cost of living.

Three major contracts are held by the Government Communication Service to support this. These are for media buying and end to end campaign solutions such as creative, partnerships, marketing and PR.

These are all zero commitment contracts and have been procured via Crown Commercial Service frameworks.

Government Recruitment Service

The Government Recruitment Service is part of Government People Group in the Cabinet Office. As an ‘in-house’ shared service provider, the Government Recruitment Service works to meet recruitment needs across government. It currently delivers around 70 per cent of the recruitment volume across the Civil Service.

Major contracts which support the delivery are as follows:

• recruitment advertising and media buying - for the advertising of external vacancies

• surge capacity recruitment services - to supplement in-house resource and outsource work. This is recharged to customers on a menu item basis

• specialist chartered psychologists for executive leadership assessments  - for the testing and assessment of senior recruits

• applicant Tracking System - for the management of recruitment via the Government Recruitment Service

Contracts for travel

Dedicated air transport service

The Cabinet Office has a contract for the provision of a “wet lease’’ aircraft for use by the Prime Minister and other ministers. The service has been available since April 2021. The contract was procured through an existing framework arrangement with Corporate Travel Management and runs until March 2027.

Investments in associates

Previously, the Cabinet Office has established associate companies in order to enhance value for money by facilitating the transformation and commoditisation of existing services, and to improve service price and quality by aggregating demand for services across the public sector. They are majority owned by a private sector partner which appoints the majority of directors to the board of the associate and effectively controls the associate.

The Cabinet Office now owns minority equity stake in one remaining associate company, Crown Hosting Data Centres Limited, where it holds a 25.1% share.

Crown Hosting Data Centres Limited provides a single point of access to secure, flexible and competitively priced data centre colocation services for government and the wider public sector.

The Cabinet Office had shareholdings in one other associates at the time of the last Accounting Officer System Statement. These shares were sold during 2023-24.

Assurance

The relationship between the Cabinet Office, partners and associates is provided for in shareholder agreements and associates’ articles of association.

The investments in associates are managed by the Commercial Models Team which reports to the Principal Accounting Officer who has overall delegated responsibility for these investments. The department has the right to appoint two non-executive directors to the board of each associate. The department’s approval is also required for certain ‘consent matters’, and it is entitled to receive copies of business plans and other management information. The non-executive directors identify risks and report upon the performance of their associates to the Commercial Models Team.

Where an associate is a supplier to government, the government’s interests as a customer are overseen by a separate customer function or framework authority to which separate governance arrangements apply. The customer function/framework authority manages the associate’s performance as a supplier under its supply contracts with the Cabinet Office and other governmental customers in the normal way, independent of the department’s interests as an associate shareholder.

Pension schemes

Cabinet Office acts as scheme manager to the Civil Service Pensions Scheme (CSPS) and the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme (RMSPS). Both the CSPS and the RMSPS have their own individual estimates and publish separate annual reports and accounts which are audited by the NAO. CSPS sits within the Civil Superannuation vote whereas the RMSPS has a standalone vote.

Assurance

The management of both schemes is shared by two directorates within the Cabinet Office. Policy work and high level governance is based within Civil Service Human Resources whereas the operational management is carried out by Government Business Services. Management has been strengthened considerably over recent years and the teams are staffed largely by experts in their relevant fields for example pensions operations, contract administration, project management and pensions finance.

As Accounting Officer, my assurance on the management of the schemes come from several sources:

• regular updates and reports from the relevant directorates

• governance bodies such as the Civil Service Pensions Board and the Cabinet Office Audit and Risk Committee

• the Government Internal Audit Agency provides me with regular reports and an annual overall opinion on the management of scheme risk