Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 (For the year ended 31 March 2012) Accounts presented to the House of Commons pursuant to Section 6 (4) of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 Annual Report presented to the House of Commons by Command of Her Majesty Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 17 July 2012 HC 56 LONDON: The Stationery Office Price: £38.50 Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 (For the year ended 31 March 2012) Accounts presented to the House of Commons pursuant to Section 6 (4) of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 Annual Report presented to the House of Commons by Command of Her Majesty Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 17 July 2012 HC 56 LONDON: The Stationery Office Price: £38.50 Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 This is part of a series of Annual Reports and Accounts which, along with the Main Estimates 2012-13 and the document Public Expenditure: Statistical Analyses 2011, present the Government’s outturn and planned expenditure for 2012-13. © Crown Copyright 2012 You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or email: [email protected] Where we have identified any third party copyright information, you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. Any enquiries regarding this document should be sent to us at [email protected] This publication is also available for download at www.official-documents.gov.uk ISBN: 9780102978353 Printed in the UK for The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office ID 2493259 07/12 21664 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum. 2 Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 Contents Page FOREWORD BY RT HON. FRANCIS MAUDE MP, MINISTER FOR THE CABINET OFFICE 4 THE CABINET OFFICE FUNCTIONS AND OBJECTIVES 5 CABINET OFFICE STRUCTURE (AT JUNE 2012) 8 A YEAR IN THE CABINET OFFICE 10 Timeline of key events - April 2011 to March 2012 BUSINESS PLAN UPDATE 14 BETTER REGULATION 19 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 22 CORPORATE INFORMATION 28 Transparency People Other reporting requirements CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS 2011-12 36 Corporate Governance 37 Statement of Lead Non-Executive - Assessment of Cabinet Office performance 58 Cabinet Office Finances – Management Commentary 60 Remuneration Report 107 Statement of Accounting Officer’s Responsibilities 120 Governance Statement 122 The Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the House of 130 Commons PRIMARY STATEMENTS Statement of Parliamentary Supply 132 Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure 133 Consolidated Statement of Financial Position 134 Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 135 Consolidated Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity 137 Notes to the Consolidated Accounts 139 3 Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 FOREWORD BY RT. HON FRANCIS MAUDE MP, MINISTER FOR THE CABINET OFFICE During 2011-12 the Cabinet Office solidified its role right at the centre of the Government, driving the efficiency and reform agenda across Whitehall, leading the programme of Civil Service Reform, building a bigger society, and protecting our national security. The Efficiency and Reform Group – with a primary mission of saving the taxpayer money – has already achieved a great deal. This Government inherited the biggest budget deficit in Britain’s peacetime history and we had no choice but to radically reform the way that Government operates. Our work on procurement, property and ICT, through to Major Projects Authority and Fraud, Error and Debt is ensuring we achieve the savings required. So far we have supported departments in making unprecedented savings. In the first ten months made £3.75 billion of cash savings and last year this was at least £5 billion. But despite these successes and our important contribution towards tackling the deficit, there remains much more to do. We are expanding our ambitions about the savings we can achieve for taxpayers. This Government will not repeat the mistakes of the past, throwing good money after bad on poorly managed projects, disconnected operational functions, wasteful IT, uncollected debt, unaddressed fraud and out- dated processes. The Cabinet Office is crucial to driving this agenda of efficiency and reform. Our Department is leading the way in ensuring that Whitehall learns from the best practice of business. We are improving the Government’s Management Information – making it more consistent, more reliable and more comparable to drive efficiency savings and inform decision making. Without accurate Management Information, Ministers and Officials are left comparing one Department’s apples with another’s oranges. Worse still if metrics change every year this year’s apples don’t even equate to last year’s. But our reforms aren’t just about saving money. We are also introducing reforms which will improve the public services on which we all rely. One part of the Cabinet Office is helping the United Kingdom realise the potential of digital service delivery, another part is supporting nurses, social workers and other frontline workers create mutuals to better serve their customers. And the Cabinet Office is coordinating our Open Data and transparency agenda. Britain is at the fore of a global movement towards increasing access to data – to open up government, build growth and inform choice over public services. All of our work on efficiency and reform is complemented by the sterling work of the secretariats, which has continued to make Cabinet Office the hub of government’s capacity to deal with complex challenges, and deliver accountable, implementable decision-making for Cabinet. Meanwhile the Department is working on reforming our political system, strengthening our civil contingencies, the pilots of the National Citizen Service, and protecting our cyber security. The challenges we face are ongoing but I am sure that the Cabinet Office will rise to these challenges with the same determination, skill and commitment that characterise its work. The Rt Hon. Francis Maude MP 4 Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 ABOUT THIS REPORT This report covers the period from 1 April 2011 until 31 March 2012; an update giving more recent information is provided wherever possible. It describes the Cabinet Office’s performance and achievements against the Departmental Business Plan and the associated Structural Reform Plan (SRP). The document also provides a comprehensive account of the Cabinet Office’s use of resources. It includes: Cabinet Office’s functions and objectives A year in the Cabinet Office Business plan update – Includes a summary of performance against the SRP actions and milestones for each of the Cabinet Office’s five priorities and provides data against the impact and input indicators identified within the business plan. Better regulation – Details the role the Cabinet Office plays in helping to promote the better regulation agenda, which aims to eliminate the unnecessary burdens of regulation without reducing vital regulatory protections and controls. Sustainability report Corporate information – Includes our corporate reporting requirements such as transparency, correspondence and human resources. Cabinet Office The specific aims, objectives, responsibilities and structure of the Cabinet Office evolve over time, and in response to new priorities. What remains constant is the Department’s two main roles: To act, alongside HM Treasury, as the strategic centre of Government, providing leadership to and oversight of the rest of government. In the current context, that means supporting the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in ensuring that the Coalition Government’s Programme for Government is delivered successfully. In doing this, we: • Co-ordinate policy and delivery across government, building consensus and coherence and smoothing conflicts. • Support capability-building across government, and challenge Departments to achieve more. To deliver specific priorities for the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Office Ministers; in the current context, efficiency and reform, the Big Society and political and constitutional reform. In support of our core functions, Cabinet Office has eight strategic objectives which are set out below. To make government more efficient and effective The Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG) leads work across government to deliver substantial improvements in effectiveness, and major efficiency savings, thereby contributing to reducing the deficit and promoting growth. Through publishing more, better information more frequently, to ensure that taxpayers can better hold public bodies to account. The Minister for the Cabinet Office has described data as the ‘new capital of the 21st century, a highly valuable resource that is creating jobs and building whole new commercial markets’. ERG leads on work across government to publish more information about the activities public bodies undertake, and to 5 Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 improve the quality of that information, so that the public can better understand what they do and how they do it, and challenge this if necessary. The information also helps people working in the public sector to identify and secure potential efficiencies. A report last year