Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Paragraph: 42
We do not consider the status of the Office of Prime Minister as a business...
Recommendation
We do not consider the status of the Office of Prime Minister as a business unit to be an accurate reflection of the role that it plays. Yet it currently operates with even less transparency that this status suggests. For so long as the Government maintains that it is a business unit of the Cabinet Office, the Government should report on its activities in the Annual Report and Accounts as it does for its other business units. And in its response to Parliamentary Questions, it should provide information as it does for its other business units.
Paragraph Reference:
42
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Annual Report and Accounts includes narrative sections on some business units’ work, to help illustrate how the department is working to deliver its priorities. However, these are not intended to cover all, or even most, business units. The Prime Minister’s Office is one of many business units which do not have a narrative section in the Annual Report and Accounts. Given the way in which Government has historically functioned, and continues to function, it would potentially be misleading to separate out the work of the Prime Minister and the work of the Cabinet. As the Cabinet Manual (2011) states: ‘The Prime Minister is the Sovereign’s principal adviser, chairs Cabinet and has overall responsibility for the organisation of government. Cabinet is the ultimate arbiter of all government policy.’ (p3-4) Given this close relationship and overlapping responsibilities, it would be difficult to comprehensively delineate which business units support the Cabinet and which business units support the Prime Minister. can be achieved through more and sustained collective working. This is already happening - recent work to improve planning and performance, including but not limited to the creation of the Outcome Delivery Plans, is an example of close working at the centre. From The role and status of the Prime Minister’s Office: Government Response 3 initiation to implementation the centre has worked with shared objectives, joint virtual teams and co-leadership under the Planning, Risk and Performance Board co-chaired by the Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Director General for Public Spending (Alex Chisholm and Cat Little). The Declaration of Government Reform—published in June 2021—made a commitment to making the centre (of Government) smarter alongside reinvigorating the principle of departmental accountability.