Managing our costs and risks
Managing our costs
We anticipate delivering the change projects which underpin our Corporate Plan at an estimated cost of less than £9m per annum over five years. This is equivalent to 14p per eligible voter. The estimated profile of project costs by strategic priority is included at Annex A (Figure 1). This shows that the estimated costs for 2025/26 (Year 1) will be lower, because a number of key projects will start later in the year.
To ensure value for money is integral to all our activity, we’re strengthening our financial, procurement and project management capabilities. Our Corporate Plan includes considerable investment in our key IT systems, as well as developing the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve back office and processing efficiencies. Benefits associated with investment against each strategic priority are described above.
However, we will only initiate individual projects where there is a clear and compelling benefits case, and we will closely monitor delivery of those benefits. The projects we undertake to deliver this plan are designed to create financial, delivery and/ or reputational benefits depending on their scope and nature. For example, the aim of investing in scoping work on AI is to enable us to identify potential efficiencies in the way we deliver services, such as translation. We will set out these benefits and will track their delivery.
Our ‘Event’ costs relating to the administration of scheduled elections are funded on an annual basis in advance of elections. Our ‘Core’ (running) costs are also funded annually. However, we anticipate that early investment in IT systems and AI will be significant drivers of core efficiencies. Annual estimated Event and Core costs are also included in Annex A (Figure 3), as well as key assumptions underpinning those estimates. Our total Project, Event and Core costs are expected to be £1.14 per eligible voter in 2025/26. Costs (and therefore) funding are shared between the three parliaments as follows:
| Direct costs | Directly attributable costs of elections, and the costs of separately identifiable activities under the powers of each body will be fully allocated to the UK Parliament, the Scottish Parliament or Senedd as appropriate. |
|---|---|
| Capital costs | Policy Development Grants and income are allocated to the UK Parliament. |
| Shared costs | Including all staff and back-office costs will be allocated in line with the population distribution of the UK. Total allocated costs by parliament are included at Annex A (Figure 2). |
Key financial assumptions are included in Annex A.
Managing our risks
We have identified our strategic and operational risks, which are managed on an ongoing basis. As with benefits, Corporate Plan project risks will be identified and managed throughout the project lifecycle.