Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department has issued to other departments on spending controls overseen by Ministers.

The Cabinet Office has published guidance on spend controls here and will share updated guidance and information with departments if we make any changes to these controls.

The most recent guidance issued to departments on spending controls was in relation to this government’s pledge to cut unnecessary spending on consultancy to save £1.2 billion by 2026. Guidance was shared directly with departments by the Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office and is summarised here.

This government is committed to making sure spend controls do not add excessive bureaucracy, enable delivery and provide value for taxpayers’ money. For example, in January 2025 the use of the Get Approval to Spend digital service (hosted on GOV.UK) was mandated for digital spend, resulting in a single front door and case management system for the digital spend control.