Recommendation 18

This Committee has examined many government programmes where problems had arisen and were known by those within the programme for some time, but the issues only became public knowledge much later. For example, the Committee was kept in the dark for over a year before being told about the difficulties on the High Speed Two programme, and the programme now reports half-yearly as a result of our work.33 Nonetheless it remains challenging to hold government to account for its delivery of programmes - the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report notes that the pressures organisations are under can make them defensive about a programme or allow a “good news culture” to develop.34