Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for spend controls (version 4)
The Cabinet Office aims to meet the following SLAs for approvals that use version 4 of the spend controls guidance.
The Cabinet Office is responsible for making sure spend controls meet objectives as efficiently and effectively as possible. To help achieve this goal, the Cabinet Office has made the following service level commitments.
Response times
When your organisation follows the standard controls process, the Cabinet Office will:
- acknowledge contact within 2 working days and assign a controls official to lead the request
- tell you if further information on the expenditure request is required within 7 working days
- provide a decision within a maximum of 28 calendar days (unless the organisation has not provided all of the necessary information when needed)
- respond to general queries relating to the controls within 3 working days
The Cabinet Office will aim to provide a decision within 28 days whenever possible. However, the Cabinet Office recommends that your organisation builds in the decision times set out above into your programme or project plans.
Approvals with conditions and declined requests
If your organisation’s expenditure request is not approved, the Cabinet Office will contact you with any concerns and work to get the case approved. In these circumstances, this will usually lead to savings or other benefits for your organisation.
Complaints
The Cabinet Office will share its performance against these targets with organisations on a quarterly basis. If your organisation feels that the SLAs are not being met, or if you are not satisfied with the service, you should email your department contact who will then discuss its concerns with the Cabinet Office.