Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted
Identified barriers to cross-government working include bureaucracy, unclear priorities, and poor data sharing.
Conclusion
HM Treasury and Cabinet Office have identified a range of barriers to effective cross-government working. The most commonly identified barriers included: structures 7 Q 44; C&AG’s Report para 5 8 Q 1; C&AG’s Report para 6 9 C&AG’s Report para 1.4, Figure 2 10 Q 49; C&AG’s Report para 1.4 11 Qq 2, 38, 45 -46 12 Qq 45, 46 13 Q 2 14 Qq 46, 82 15 Q 38 16 Q 48; C&AG’s Report para 11 17 Q 47 Cross-government working 9 and bureaucracy hindering planning and delivery; ministerial priorities not being well understood; inconsistent join-up in spending decisions and allocations; a lack of routine data sharing between Departments; and poor arrangements for sharing best practice and learning.18
Government Response Summary
The government states it has provided hands-on support through a 'Joint Working Support Project' to help teams examine barriers and identify appropriate cross-government working models, and HM Treasury is committed to further removing barriers and improving cross-cutting business cases through guidance and support.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government has provided hands-on support to teams who work with other departments through designing a ‘Joint Working Support Project’. This methodology supports projects examine common barriers to effective joint working and help departments identify what model of cross-government working might work best for them. HM Treasury is committed to further removing the barriers to cross- departmental collaboration and increasing the number and standard of cross-cutting business cases through providing guidance to teams and support to priority areas.