Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Accepted
Difficulties sharing lessons and best practice persist due to lack of central government information.
Conclusion
Departmental witnesses told us that the extent of these problems can depend on the policy area, but highlighted that sharing lessons across government can be difficult because there is not a single place to find information.19 Cabinet Office told us that it tries to disseminate good practice through the work of the functions and the Evaluation Task Force.20 However, HM Treasury accepted that more needs to be done to share best practice and tell people about the benefits of cross-government working to encourage departments to work together.21 Missing or inadequate data
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and targets March 2025 for implementation, highlighting its existing Policy Profession website hub, Government Campus, and Leadership College for Government for sharing best practice. HM Treasury will also write to the Committee with updated findings from the Shared Outcomes Fund towards the end of its funding period.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government has published a hub on the Policy Profession website to offer tips, links and guidance to colleagues working across departmental boundaries. The hub offers support on four key pillars of joint working: governance, data, finance and culture. The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: March 2025. The Shared Outcomes Fund is managed by HM Treasury. HM Treasury has already assessed interim lessons learned from the project, which informed the joint working review. As the funding covers the period until the end of the financial year 2024-2025, HM Treasury will write to the Committee towards the end of the last funding period with updated findings. Government Campus offers a package of learning to all civil servants that provides toolkits and case studies that support better collaborative working across government. Where there are new cross-government needs or the existing products require improvement, the Government Skills and Curriculum Unit works with HM Treasury and the Government Finance Function to improve the offer. The Leadership College for Government also provides a suite of programmes for senior leaders designed to improve collaboration and cross-government working.