Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Accountability for levelling up outcomes remains unsatisfactory.
Conclusion
Accountability for levelling up outcomes remains unsatisfactory. This Committee has reported before that government’s accountability arrangements had failed to keep pace with increasingly complex ways of delivering policies and services. and that this had weakened accountability to Parliament for the use of public funds. The cross-government nature of the levelling up ambition makes accountability more complicated, and the Levelling Up outcomes (or ‘missions’) in the White Paper relating to pay, productivity, and employment are inherently cross-cutting. While accountabilities for the Levelling Up fund and UK Shared Prosperity fund are clear, the Department told us that those for the 12 Levelling Up missions are still being worked through. Recommendation: HM Treasury and the Department should write to the committee alongside the Treasury Minute response to clarify departmental accountabilities for levelling up outcomes and in particular for cross-cutting missions.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2022 6.2 The Levelling Up White Paper sets out twelve missions that support levelling up outcomes. Missions are a tool to break down silos and encourage collaboration across the public, private and voluntary sectors. To ensure missions deliver these benefits the department have implemented a new architecture across central government to support delivery. The ‘mission architecture’ provides clear accountability through named individuals taking responsibility for progress and puts in place structures designed to smooth interdepartmental cooperation on a mission-by-mission basis. This includes the Levelling Up Cabinet Sub-Committee, which has been established to embed levelling up across central government policy design and delivery. Once these arrangements have been confirmed with new ministers, the department and HM Treasury will write to the Committee separately with further details.