The Treasury’s overall aim is:

In pursuit of this, its objectives include:

The Treasury is organised into six Directorates:

The regular Treasury contacts for most people in other departments will be with the spending team that deals with their policy area eg Health, Education and Training. Most spending teams are in PSD, but some are in other directorates closer to the policy issues. Various teams in FMRA provide advisory services, which departments may access through the relevant spending teams or directly. FRI responsibilities include Public Enterprise Partnerships and the Private Finance Initiative.

The Treasury’s approach to public spending control has changed a lot since the mid-90s, shifting to a more strategic approach, much strengthened by further reforms under this government. It is not simply concerned with controlling spending, but also with achieving value for money and with using spending programmes to make the economy work better. Spending reviews now take place every two years instead of annually. Public Service Agreements (PSAs) state departments’ aims and objectives, and the targets for the outputs and outcomes that will be delivered with the resources which have been allocated. Service Delivery Agreements (SDAs) set out detailed operational performance targets.

The Treasury’s strategic approach to public expenditure control is reflected in the aim of PSD, which is:

"Improving public services and increasing social welfare by the best possible use of the resources the country can afford".

Public Services Directorate

The Public Services Directorate (PSD) is made up of 10 spending teams which deal with the spending programmes of one or more departments:

There are also four teams dealing with departmental spending in other Directorates:

...and a further five teams in PSD deal with issues that cut across departmental programmes:

The spending teams are the first point of contact for people in spending departments concerned with financial planning and control. They are organised so that each department only has to deal with the people in one spending team for most day-to-day business.

The individual spending teams work with departments to ensure delivery of Public Services Directorate’s operational objectives. These include:

More about the Treasury’s public expenditure work can be found in the Public Spending pages on its GSI website: http://www.hm-treasury.gsi.gov.uk/

	maintenance and development of the Treasury’s public expenditure (PES) database, and of the associated IT system (the Financial Information System, or FIS);
	compilation and publication of statistics and analyses of public expenditure;
	advice on the classification of public expenditure and related transactions under the UK national accounts and the Treasury’s budgeting rules; and
	ad hoc queries and analyses concerning public expenditure.

	identifying new ways to promote and measure efficiency;
	encouraging efficient and innovative cross-government working;
	ensuring public sector pay levels, structures and determination mechanisms contribute to more efficient and effective public services and macro-economic stability.

The team is currently involved in the redesign and policing of the control regime which limits expenditure by departments on running costs - eg pay, accommodation; and it has been reviewing the costs of ill health retirement in the public sector. It manages the Invest to Save Budget (ISB) - a challenge fund to help develop innovative projects that secure efficiency savings and consumer benefits.

Contacting PSPE

Efficiency tel: 020 7270 4996

Pay tel: 020 7270 5605

 

Public Services Productivity Panel Unit (PSPPU)

The Public Services Productivity Panel is a small group of senior business people and public sector managers set up in late 1998 to advise the Government on ways of improving the productivity of government departments and other public sector bodies. The Productivity Panel Unit provides a secretariat and administrative support to individual Panel projects, including project management, research, analysis and drafting. Cabinet Office units such as MPS, PIU and RIU are closely involved in the Panel’s work, through consultation at working level.

Individual Panel members work with specific departments on agreed projects to raise standards, so as to achieve or out-perform the targets set in their Public Service Agreements.

Contacting the PSPPU

tel: 020 7270 4849

Panel reports, details of Panel members, press notices and other information are available on its website: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pspp

 

Central Operational Research and Economics (CORE)

The CORE team is a small group of professionals who work with other Treasury teams and departments to raise the quality of micro-economic work and promote more evidence-based policy-making. Current projects include scrutiny and review of departments’ objectives and target measures, investment strategies, and budgeting and accounting regimes. CORE is responsible for follow-up action on the PIU report Adding it up, which dealt with the use of technical modelling in policy formation. It also advises on implemention of Green Book guidance on appraisal of policies, programmes and projects.

Contacting CORE

tel: 020 7270 5733

 

Adding It Up

The PIU report Adding It Up reviewed the Government’s capability for deploying analysis and modelling to underpin policy formulation in key areas. It set out a number of conclusions as to how Government could enhance its analytic capability and ensure that analysis and modelling are given due weight in policy advice to ministers.

A number of players, besides PSD, have responsibility for delivering the Report’s recommendations; 

	The Policy Studies Directorate of the Centre for Management and Policy Studies (CMPS), which supports policy makers by evaluating new approaches to policy making and promoting best practice; by encouraging and enabling an evidence-based approach and by working to ensure high standards in government research and evaluation,
	Permanent Secretaries who are charged with the implementation of the recommendations addressed to Departments,
	Heads of Profession and Chairs of Management Groups that have to oversee developments across their own professional domains
	Office for National Statistics and the National Statistician, who have to ensure that the initiatives being undertaken by the GSS are communicated to all specialists involved in analysis and modelling.
	The Adding It Up Implementation Group who is charged with coordinating this activity, with across-department and outside expert membership. It is serviced by the Adding It Up Secretariat, drawn from CORE team within PSD.

PSD, and more specifically CORE and GEP, is tasked with ensuring that sound analysis underpins the Spending Reviews so that the PSAs are founded on evidence-based policy making. It is also working with departments to review their analytical progress in the light of evidence gaps. CORE works closely with CMPS in delivering AIU conclusions.

Moreover, CORE is tasked with managing the Evidence-Based Policy Fund, which was launched in June 2000. The Fund is intended to enhance resources available for improving the evidence base of policy, particularly on issues of inter-departmental relevance.

Contacting the AIU Secretariat

Tel: 020 7270 4747

 

Financial Regulation and Industry Directorate

The Financial Regulation and Industry Directorate (FRI) is concerned with the private sector, dealing with regulation of financial services; encouraging enterprise; and productivity and competition.

FRI also works to improve the way the public sector deals with the private sector through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Partnerships UK (PUK); the Public Enterprise Partnership (PEP) team; and the Office of Government Commerce (OGC)

 

Private Finance Initiative Taskforce (PFI) and Partnerships UK (PUK)

The Treasury Taskforce was created in 1997, to strengthen the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) in which the public sector contracts to purchase quality services on a long-term basis from the private sector. In April 2000 the policy arm of the Taskforce became part of the Office of Government Commerce, and responsibility for the publication of guidance notes on PFI and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) went with it. The Projects Group of the Taskforce was reborn in 2000 as Partnerships UK. It works with public sector organisations to achieve a better and quicker flow of stronger value for money PPP deals.

Contacting PUK

tel: 020 7273 8357

website: http://www.partnershipsuk.org.uk

 

Public Enterprise Partnerships (PEP)

The Public Enterprise Partnerships team is responsible for the Treasury’s interest in the remaining state owned businesses. It advises on the scope, and the appropriate structure, for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) for these businesses; and works with departments to take the PPPs forward.

PPPs allow the Government to tap into the disciplines, incentives, skills and expertise which private sector firms have developed in the course of their normal everyday business, and so release the full potential of the people, knowledge and assets in the public sector. This enables Government to deliver its objectives better and to focus on those activities which are best performed by the public sector - procuring services, enforcing standards and protecting the public interest.

Contacting the PEP team:

tel: 020 7270 4640

 

Office of Government Commerce (OGC)

The Office Government Commerce (OGC) was established in April 2000. It took on the staff of the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), Property Advisers to the Civil Estate (PACE) and the Buying Agency (TBA) and some procurement staff from HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office.

OGC aims to:

	provide a greater sense of direction in procurement and a renewed drive to improve performance;
	move to a more formal and disciplined approach to the management of major projects; encourage e-commerce to revolutionise Government procurement and deliver £1 billion benefits overall by 2003;
	promote increasing use of the European Foundation for Quality Management’s Excellence Model to drive measurement and benchmarking;
	deliver a measurable improvement in commercial skills in Government.

There is more about the OGC on its website: http://www.ogc.gov.uk/

Contacting the OGC agencies

CCTA website: http://www.ccta.gov.uk/

tel: 01603 704567 e-mail: info@ccta.gov.uk

PACE website: http://www.property.gov.uk/

tel: 0207 271 2833 e-mail: enquiries@property.gsi.uk

TBA website: http://www.tba.gov.uk/

tel: 0151 227 4262 e-mail: post@tba.gov.uk

 

Financial Management Reporting and Audit Directorate

The Financial Management Reporting and Audit Directorate maintains effective accounting and budgeting arrangements in all departments. Five teams are concerned with this:

	Audit Policy and Advice (APA)
	Central Accountancy (CA)
	Development of Accountancy Resource Team (DART)
	Treasury Officer of Accounts (TOA)
	Whole of Government Accounts (WGA)

Audit Policy and Advice (APA)

APA sets internal audit standards and promotes best practice in internal audit. The APA team works closely with the Treasury Officer of Accounts (TOA) team on issues of accountability, corporate governance and risk management.

Contacting APA

tel: 020 7270 5714

 

Central Accountancy (CA)

The CA team provides a specialist technical accounting resource with a mix of experience and expertise. It aims is to promote good financial management by:

	developing and maintaining an effective financial accounting and reporting framework; and
	providing advice and guidance to the rest of the Treasury and other parts of government on financial accounting and reporting issues.

Contacting CA team

tel: 020 7270 4508

 

Development of Accountancy Resource Team (DART)

DART is a small team supporting the Head of the Government Accountancy Service (GAS), which aims to promote accountancy best practice through training, development and better communications on standards.

Contacting DART

tel: 020 7270 1747

 

Treasury Officer of Accounts (TOA)

Treasury Officer of Accounts team (TOA) advises departments on the regularity and propriety of public expenditure. This is done through both written guidance and answers to queries. Departments can get TOA team advice either through the relevant Treasury spending team or directly. The Treasury Officer of Accounts (the head of TOA team) or a deputy advises departmental Accounting Officers attending hearings of the PAC (the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts) and represents the Treasury at those hearings.

Contacting TOA

Accountability 020 7270 5524

Fees and Charges 020 7270 5313

Government Accounting 020 7270 5715

 

Whole of Government Accounts (WGA)

The WGA is a small team of accountants - on loan or secondment from the private sector and other parts of the public sector - headed by a full-time Treasury Official. They are working on the integration of departmental accounts, along similar lines to consolidated accounts for private sector groups of companies.

Contacting WGA

tel: 020 7270 4554