Education Permanent Secretary questioned on Department's financial management
8 March 2016
The Education Committee questions senior civil servants, including Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary, on the Department for Education's (DfE) financial management.
- Watch Parliament TV: Financial management at the Department for Education
- Inquiry: Financial management at the Department for Education
- Read about DfE's decision to extend the deadline for publishing its accounts
- Education Committee
Witnesses
Wednesday 9 March 2016, Grimond Room, Portcullis House
At 9.30am
- Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary, Department for Education
- Peter Lauener, Chief Executive, Education Funding Agency, Department for Education
- Richard Calvert, Strategy and Resources Directorate, Department for Education
Chair's comment
Neil Carmichael MP, Chair of the Education Committee, said:
"It has been clear for some time that the Department for Education's financial management has not kept pace with education reforms over recent years. The fact the DfE had to extend the statutory deadline for publishing their own financial accounts hardly shows a Department in firm control of its own financial matters.
At a time when public spending continues to be under pressure, robust financial scrutiny is an ever more vital part of a select committee's work. This session provides an important opportunity for us to press the Permanent Secretary and his colleagues to set out the steps they are taking to get their house in order."
Focus of the session
The Committee will seek to hold the Department to account in respect of the late publication of its annual report and accounts for 2014-15, question the Department on the separation of its accounts and the accounts of academies, and explore the relationship between financial management, strategy and policy.
Further information
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