Fresh blow to Rachel Reeves as Commons probe delivers scathing verdict on her Office for Value for Money
Share:
RACHEL Reeves’ Office for Value for Money is a waste of cash, a Commons probe has found. The Chancellor launched the quango last year to ensure every pound spent was benefitting taxpayers. But the Treasury select committee has delivered a scathing verdict in a fresh blow to her handling of the public finances.
![[Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, speaking at the CBI Conference.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Alamy_Live_Rachel_Reeves_Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer_speaks_2YNF0P4jpg-JS952197225.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Its chairwoman, Labour’s Dame Meg Hillier, said MPs concluded it was “understaffed and poorly-defined” with “no clear plan to measure its effectiveness”. She added: “All of which leads me to feel this initiative may be something of a red herring.”.
Dame Meg also questioned what the quango will achieve which cannot be done elsewhere. Other government areas already scrutinise spending. The National Audit Office has an annual £106million budget and 960 staff — dwarfing the OfVfM’s 12 full-time civil servants.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said: “Labour are more interested in vanity quangos than saving money. If they can’t make clear what this unit will do, and how, it should be abolished.”. But a Treasury spokesman hit back: “For too long, taxpayer money has been squandered and we are putting an end to it.
