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Implementing Public Accounts Committee Recommendations

Evidence from the UK Government’s ‘Progress Reports’ since 2012

Bibliographic Data

ID6310713
AuthorsThomas Elston (0000-0001-6659-7928, University of Oxford, corresponding author), Yuxi Zhang (0009-0006-4190-5393, London School of Economics and Political Science)
Year2023
Volume76
Issue3
Pages662-693
Publication date2023-06-19
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueParliamentary Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-2290 • E-ISSN: 1460-2482
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/pa/gsab068
OpenAlexW4205181578
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited43

The Public Accounts Committee is the oldest and, reputedly, most influential oversight committee in the British parliament. Since 2012, the government has published an unprecedented volume of data explaining its actions in response to the PAC’s inquiries. By tracking all 615 of the Committee’s recommendations from 2010 to 2012 across the first 14 of these ‘progress reports’, we explore how effectively this novel reporting mechanism serves to inform parliament about the executive’s responsiveness to scrutiny. We find the reports to yield rich data on the fate of many individual recommendations, but only limited information on the overall timeliness and quality of implementation. Flexibilities and inconsistencies in reporting style also make the arrangements vulnerable to gaming. We identify potential improvements and research opportunities

Business · Government (linguistics · Parliament · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Quality (philosophy · Scrutiny · Sociology · Tracking (education · Accounting · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy · Law · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research

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Unique citing works5
Citations per year1.25
Citation span2022 - 2026 (5)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 5

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