§ Mr. LathamTo ask the Prime Minister whether she will make a statement on the implementation of the Government's financial management initiative throughout Departments since its introduction.
§ The Prime MinisterIn the Treasury minute (Cm. 236) in response to the 13th report from the Committee of Public Accounts, the Government noted that it shared the Controller and Auditor General's broad conclusions that real progress was being made in the development of suitable systems and that there were no serious shortcomings in the Departments examined by the National Audit Office in 1986. We shall shortly be making available a report on the progress being made with budgeting in Departments which covers the key system elements of the financial management initiative. As I announced on 18 February 1988, at column 1149, we have accepted the main recommendations in the efficiency unit's report "Improving Management in Government: the Next Steps". The implementation of these recommendations will further reinforce the principles of the FMI and demonstrate clearly the Government's commitment to maintaining the momentum of our overal programme to improve value for money.