Recommendation 17

We asked the Treasury how it will ensure that projects, which are related to each other or are in the same area but sit within different departments, do complement each other and provide value for money. It told us that governance needs to be set up which has all the people round the table and that projects such as the Oxford-Cambridge arc are not just seen as a transport project. The Treasury highlighted that mission boards are designed to look at cross-cutting government issues.32 We noted that these arrangements sounded quite ad hoc and the Treasury told us that 29 Qq 59, 62, 69 30 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.6-2.7, 2.9 31 Q 42; Question for Treasury, Written questions and answers UK Parliament, UIN 20927, 18 December 2024 32 Q 43 12 the five missions “have very clear governance structures”.33 We asked how this works in practice when there are different departments and agencies working on related projects. It told us that the mission boards meet regularly and talk these interrelationships through, and that missions cover the vast majority of what the government is trying to achieve.34