Catalogue description HM Treasury: Public Services Sector, Accounts and Purchasing Group, Management Accounting and Purchasing Policy Division: Registered Files (GASS prefix)

Records preserved from this function comprise those relating to the reform and scrutiny of financial management across government departments.

This work was catalysed by the Rayner Scrutiny of government in 1981, carried out by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's adviser on waste, bureaucracy and efficiency in government - Sir Derek Rayner. The roots of such Scrutiny in government can, in turn, be traced back to the Report on the Control of Public Expenditure created by a Parliament backed independent committee chaired by Sir Edwin Plowden (published in 1961) which had been critical of Treasury's control of public expenditure. The Plowden Report had originally recommended better use of the techniques of management and measurement and emphasised the importance of improving management throughout the public service. The Rayner Scrutiny and measures adopted by Treasury for higher standards of accounting can be viewed as a continuation of this theme. The Treasury worked closely with the Cabinet Office 'Prime Minister's Efficiency Unit' during the 1980s and records reflecting these characteristics are preserved here.

In 2013-2016 Treasury