Written question asked by James Wild (Conservative) on Monday, 10 November 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 12 November 2025. It was answered by Sarah Jones (Labour) on Thursday, 20 November 2025 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office: Public Expenditure

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2025 to Question 61219 on Government Departments: Reviews, how many lines of activity in her Department were considered as part of the zero based review.

Answer

At Spending Review 2025, the government conducted the first zero-based review (ZBR) of department budgets in 18 years, with every line of spending scrutinised to ensure value for money.

Through the zero-based review, the Home Office carried out a line by line review of its current budgets. The review involved differing levels of granularity depending on the type and size of expenditure under review.

To ensure consistency in approach, cross-government guidance set expectations for the level of granularity each review should consider, recommending that departments review all spending within individual programme expenditure – at a minimum reflecting any lines of spending in excess of £1m per annum.

Savings identified through this process will support delivery of the government's commitment for all departments to deliver at least 5% savings and efficiencies by 2028-29.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 88852
Session: 2024-26
Related items: Home Office: Public Expenditure
Friday, 27 June 2025
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Home Office Public expenditure
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Home Office: Public Expenditure

Secondary information

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