Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 22
22
Deferred
Strengthen integrated working with other government departments and devolved administrations on investment.
Recommendation
The Department needs to work in an integrated way with other government departments which hold policy responsibility for some of the sectors it aims to attract investment into, and which hold policy levers, such as tax, regulation and visa requirements that can help reduce barriers to investment. The Department also needs to work with local government bodies and the devolved administrations which can also support investment into their areas.55 It told us it had a good relationship with the Welsh Government, but that it planned to review the effectiveness of its process for passing investment leads to the Welsh Government.56
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation but states that further steps are necessary to coordinate investment promotion across Whitehall. It largely defers specific action, indicating that the Harrington Review will examine cross-government working, and the department will implement relevant recommendations upon its conclusion.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2024 6.2 The department actively engages with investors to understand what they need from government, and how the department can coordinate action across Whitehall to tackle barriers to inward investment. 6.3 The Investment Council provides a regular forum to gather investor feedback, including from CEOs and company founders. The Council provides a platform to coordinate and aggregate intelligence from investors’ experiences of doing business in the UK into insights that support the department’s policymaking. 6.4 In addition to this, the department’s analytical function surveys investors annually, including on the barriers that investors face. The department is working on improving this process and increasing the response rate. 6.5 Despite this existing engagement, the department recognises that further steps are necessary to coordinate investment promotion effectively across Whitehall. 6.6 The Harrington Review is a key milestone, as one of the key focus areas for the report will examine how the department can extend the benefits of working across government on investment in key sectors. Following the publication of the report in September 2023. The department will look to implement any relevant recommendations. The department has also held workshops with the Office for Investment (OfI) and relevant department teams, particularly in relation to the OfI’s creation and impact on cross-Whitehall working. The department will provide an update to the Committee in the next Treasury Minute progress report on the conclusions of this work, including where these could support the department’s investment promotion efforts in the future. 6.7 Upon the conclusion of the Harrington Review, the department will take further appropriate action to improve the department’s approach to cross-government working on investment promotion.