Home Updates News MPs skeptical about new Money Valuation Office’s value for money

MPs skeptical about new Money Valuation Office’s value for money

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Senior MPs have questioned whether the new Money Valuation Office will actually save the taxpayer money.

In the October budget, chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the new department to help the government “reap the benefits of every pound of public spending”.

However, a report published by the cross-party Treasury Select Committee heavily criticized the Office of Value for Money (OVM) and questioned how it would have “a significant impact on driving efficiency across departments”.

The chair of the committee, Labor MP Dame Meg Hillier, said she believes the move “may be something of a red herring”.

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However, Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said it is important and will help “eliminate waste”.

In the report, MPs said the OVM’s independent chairman, accountant David Goldstone, a former MoD operations director, is only on a one-year contract and by December, two months later, there were only 12 full-time employees. . Not the promised 20.

It was revealed in November. Mr Goldstone earns £950 a day from existing civil service budgets and will be expected to work an average of one day a week per month, meaning he will have an annual salary of £50,000. If the role were full-time it would be £240,000 a year.

The committee also said there has been no estimate of how much OVM will cost, including the cost of any outside consultants it is considering using.

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Chair of the Treasury Committee, Dame Meg Hillier, MP. File Photo: PA

MPs said the OVM is doubling down on what other departments are already doing, with seven examples of teams and processes within Whitehall ensuring public spending decisions are cost-effective, and they said there are more.

He noted that the National Audit Office is the government’s statutory external auditor that carries out regular value for money audits and has an annual budget of around £106 million and more than 960 staff.

Goldstone, which also works on the government’s subsea supply, HS2 and GB nuclear, told the committee in December that it is “not going to duplicate other parts of the government” but “will build on them and work with them where we can”.

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The committee also said there is very little information about which departments the OVM will work with, how it will review its investment proposals and who is responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of the OVM. It has asked the Treasury to publish those details.

Committee chair Dame Meg said: “Our committee has concluded that the Money Valuation Office is an understaffed and ill-defined organization that has been set up with a vague remit and no clear plan. to measure its effectiveness.

“All of which leads me to feel that this initiative may be something of a red herring.

“The Treasury needs to share much more information about what this small team will actually achieve for the taxpayer, something that cannot be done anywhere else. You must also be transparent about how you will operate and how you will evaluate its effectiveness.”

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said the OVM is “important and taxpayers will want the government to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent appropriately”.

He added that he is bringing “expertise to help eradicate waste and identify areas where spending is wasteful and can identify savings.”

Sky Information has contacted the Treasury for comment.

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