Government value for money office ‘understaffed’ and ‘poorly defined’
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The Government’s value for money advice unit is “understaffed” and “poorly defined”, according to the head of a cross-party group of MPs. The Office for Value For Money has been described as “something of a red herring” by Dame Meg Hillier, the chairwoman of the Treasury Committee, with a “vague remit” and “no clear plan to measure its effectiveness”.
She made the comments as she launched a new committee report into the organisation which found it was “lightly resourced” with a “very short period of time to drive tangible improvements”. According to the gov.uk website, the office is a “time-limited unit” within the Treasury that “provides advice to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Chief Secretary to the Treasury to ensure that value for money is at the heart of the Government’s spending decisions”.
Plans for the body were first announced by Labour in 2021, before David Goldstone – a non-executive director at HS2 Ltd – was appointed as chairman at last year’s Budget, paid a day rate of £950. The report from the committee raised concerns over resources with the office having 12 members of full-time staff in December 2024, as well as the risk of duplication with other government bodies who have their own procedures for determining value for money.
