Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Office for Value for Money has made of the potential impact of restrictive licensing practices on Departmental spend on digital transformation.

The Office for Value for Money (OVfM) is a time limited unit in HM Treasury that was set two roles at Autumn Budget 2024: making targeted interventions at Spending Review 2025 and developing recommendations for reforming the spending framework.

The OVfM has not made an assessment of the potential impact of restrictive licensing practices on departmental spend on digital transformation. Given the OVfM is a small, time limited team, it has needed to focus on a limited set of issues, deploying resources efficiently to target areas where the it can have most impact. Officials across departments consider the value for money of specific policies and external interactions using existing tools.