The Balance Sheet Review Report: Improving public sector balance sheet management
This report highlights significant opportunities identified, reforms undertaken and savings delivered through the UK’s first comprehensive review of public sector assets and liabilities.
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The Balance Sheet Review was launched at Autumn Budget 2017 to identify opportunities to dispose of assets that no longer serve a policy purpose, improve returns on retained assets and reduce the cost and risk of liabilities. Delivering these improvements will help release resources for investment in public services, increase value for money and reduce risks for current and future taxpayers.
The Review has identified opportunities for systemic reforms that will embed improvements in the government’s management of assets or liabilities, including:
- setting out a public sector balance sheet framework
- improving the management of risk across the government’s contingent liabilities and publishing the ‘Government as insurer of last resort’ report
- unlocking value from intellectual property and other intangible assets in the public sector
- retiring the use of the Private Finance Initiative and its successor Private Finance 2 on new projects
- improving transparency around major asset sales and publishing guidance
- embedding balance sheet management in Spending Review 2020
While this report marks the conclusion of the Review, the government’s focus on improving balance sheet management will continue. Future work is highlighted in the report.
Balance Sheet Review publications include:
- Government as insurer of last resort - HM Treasury, March 2020
- Asset sale disclosures: guidance for government - HM Treasury, March 2019
- Getting smart about intellectual property and other intangibles in the public sector - HM Treasury, October 2018
Also see:
- Whole of Government Accounts 2018-19 -HM Treasury, July 2020
- Contingent liability approval framework: guidance - HM Treasury, July 2017