Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that allocated funding is disbursed in a timely way.

HM Treasury works closely with departments to ensure that allocated funding is distributed in a timely and efficient way.

Departments are given freedom to exercise commercial judgement within appropriate delegated authority arrangements. Project and programme spending outside of departments' Delegated Authority Limits is scrutinised by HM Treasury to ensure it reflects the government's priorities and meets the criteria for the use of public funds: regularity, propriety, value for money and feasibility.

HM Treasury reviews Delegated Authority Limits on an annual basis to ensure scrutiny is focused and proportionate. HM Treasury has taken forward various initiatives to strengthen approval and decision-making processes across government, including updating the Treasury Approval Process in 2022 to support faster and higher quality spending approvals.