Hodge was commenting on a PAC report, published yesterday, examining the accounts. “The 2009-’10 WGA reveals some staggering numbers and shows that the total effect of individual financial decisions can be very significant,” she said. The report highlights the £56.7bn estimated cost of nuclear decommissioning, a figure that is likely to rise.
The PAC report also picks out the cost to the taxpayer of settling “outstanding claims” for clinical negligence, estimated at £15.7bn. However, the Treasury’s WGA documents reveal that this sum includes provision for claims that have not yet been made – a strange definition of “outstanding claims” – and point out that this “expenditure is likely to be incurred over a period of more than 20 years.”
While welcoming the WGA’s publication, the report criticises them on the basis that the accounts have been qualified by the National Audit Office (NAO) – which objected to the fact that they don’t cover publicly-owned companies such as Network Rail and the nationalised banks.
Meanwhile, the NAO released a report earlier this month stating that, while government departments have been successful in finding short-term savings, they will struggle to achieve their longer-term savings targets without “fundamental changes.”
“Departments will achieve long-term value for money only if they identify and implement new ways of delivering their objectives, with a permanently lower cost base,” said Amyas Morse, NAO’s auditor general.
The report also raises concerns that departments will lack adequate reserves in the event that savings cannot be realised.
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