Summary
The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) continues to be essential reading for anyone looking for a comprehensive view of the UK’s public finances. HM Treasury (the Treasury) has responded to the Committee’s previous recommendations and improved the clarity, quality and usefulness of the WGA. However, we continue to be concerned that the time it takes to produce means that the WGA is still not achieving its potential as a tool for making decisions about the public finances. While we welcome the Treasury’s move towards using the WGA to help better manage the government’s assets and liabilities, the Treasury’s actions to maximise value from assets and reduce liabilities will need to be embedded in day-to-day financial management across government if they are to have a lasting impact.
There is more that could be done to improve how the WGA is used. Despite the overall aim of the WGA to enhance transparency, the Treasury doesn’t fully understand who uses it, or how it is used. The WGA will be increasingly important for accountability and transparency of the public finances in the future, particularly in enabling the public to understand the longer-term impact of Brexit on the public finances. The Treasury needs to assure the public and Parliament that the WGA’s disclosures on the impact of Brexit will be comprehensive and clear.
Published: 25 January 2019