Prison costs still elusive for justice ministry
By politics.co.uk staff
Ken Clarke’s department does not fully understand the costs of staff in its prisons, a report has found.
The Commons’ public accounts committee found that despite two years’ work on the problem the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has still not integrated financial management into its policy and operational workings.
It was the only government department to miss its deadline for producing accounts in 2009/10. This, according to the committee’s report, is “simply not acceptable”.
Committee chair Margaret Hodge said: “If the Ministry of Justice is to minimise the impact on its frontline services of its tough spending settlement, it must fully understand the cost and value of those services.
“But the ministry and its arm’s length bodies currently lack that detailed information.”
The MoJ has claimed that there is little it can do to influence the behaviour of its arm’s-length bodies, but Ms Hodge disagreed.
“As government devolves more to arm’s-length bodies it is crucial that all government departments ensure rigorous accountability,” she added.
“We will want to see evidence that improvements really are being made.”
The MoJ’s accounting officer has pledged to prioritise financial management. The department faces cuts of 23% over the next four years.
