Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Acknowledged
Department has strengthened inter-departmental working, but further development is still needed.
Conclusion
The NAO report found that the Department had strengthened how it worked with other government departments to present a more coherent UK offer to investors, including through the creation of the Office for Investment, but that there were opportunities to develop this further. The Department told us that it tried to make sure other departments were aware of how their proposed policies may impact investment and that it highlights potential barriers to investment to other departments.59 The Department said there were some inevitable policy tensions which limited what it could do to reduce barriers to investment. For example, investors have said opening a UK bank account is challenging but this is due to anti-money laundering regulations which are in place for good reasons.60 However, it said that in some cases it was hard to influence other departments to change or adopt policies to support investment where other departments were focused on their own agendas, such as on business visas where the Department would like the Home Office to make it easier for businesses to come to the UK.61 55 C&AG’s Report, Figure 6 56 Q 77 57 Qq 1, 10, 12 58 Q 10–12 59 Q 31 60 Q 35 61 Qq 64–66 16 Supporting investment into the UK
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the observation, highlighting existing engagement mechanisms like the Investment Council and annual investor surveys. It acknowledges that further steps are necessary to improve cross-government coordination on investment promotion and will implement relevant recommendations following the Harrington Review.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
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.