The Ministry of Justice has made progress in improving its financial management, but it falls short of best practice in the consistency of its financial management approach, its understanding of its costs and the integration of its financial management systems and processes. The Ministry has made an important step forward in establishing a Value for Money Improvement Committee. This will assist the Ministry in delivering its future efficiency programme; integrating its financial systems; improving its cost data; and enhancing its internal financial management reporting. However, the Ministry is yet to produce a clear action plan to deliver its financial management initiatives and needs to do so over the next four months to demonstrate its commitment to continuing to improve its financial management. The Ministry does not yet understand, in sufficient detail, the costs of its activities within its prisons, the probation service and the courts. Procurement systems have been overhauled but this still leaves the 40 per cent of the Ministry's cost base relating to staff time. To address this, the Ministry has introduced major programmes to understand the costs of its activities in the National Offender Management Service and HM Courts Service but they are not due to be completed until at least 2012. The National Audit Office also notes that the Ministry's Finance Directorate does not have sufficient visibility of the costs of its policy proposals, reducing the effectiveness of the Ministry's financial control of its forward policy agenda.