Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Accepted
Departments lack sufficient incentives for investing in cross-government benefit-delivering programmes.
Conclusion
However, there is little incentive for departments to invest in programmes that deliver benefits elsewhere in government.33 We challenged HM Treasury on whether Permanent Secretaries received sufficient recognition for delivering outcomes across multiple departments. HM Treasury acknowledged the importance of rewarding and recognising those who invest time in cross-government delivery and that HM Treasury needed to use every lever available to try to increase the use of cross-government working. HM Treasury told us that politicians in government played an important role in incentivising senior officials to deliver cross-government working by setting cross-cutting priority outcomes.34
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to address the lack of incentives for cross-government investment and will produce new Spending Review guidance by August 2024, setting expectations for departments to work together on cross-cutting areas. It also highlights past improvements in joint bid applications and updated budgeting guidance.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with this recommendation. Target implementation date: August 2024, or earlier, if circumstances dictate. Spending Review (SR) guidance is the responsibility of HM Treasury. HM Treasury will produce guidance setting expectations that departments should work together at the Spending Review on cross-cutting areas. At Spending Review 2021, the government improved the process for joint bid applications, making it more accessible for departments engaging in joint working to bid for funding. At the launch of SR21, the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury (CST) wrote to Secretaries of State in other government departments to make clear that HM Treasury expected departments to work together at the Spending Review on cross-cutting policy areas. In two key cross-cutting areas, the Criminal Justice System and the Integrated Review, the then Director General of Public Spending wrote to departments involved to ask them to work together to align and prioritise their bids. For other key cross-cutting areas, there were established cross-government processes in place, covering areas such as Levelling Up and Net Zero. These processes ensured that departments worked together on SR bids. HM Treasury also provided training and guidance to finance and policy teams across Whitehall to support joint bids. HM Treasury will determine in detail its approach to supporting cross-departmental working at the next SR. The approach will be informed by lessons learned from the previous SR and the Shared Outcomes fund, as well as feedback on the joint bid process from departments. 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. At Spending Review 2021, HM Treasury improved the process for joint spending bids. This included providing training, guidance, and advice to departmental finance and policy teams to set out the requirements for a joint bid. Through these processes, HM Treasury has supported departments on how to approach cross-government working. HM Treasury will continue to monitor and, as appropriate, offer support for departments going forward. HM Treasury has worked with other government departments to agree the medium-term policy outcomes that will be achieved through public spending. This includes shared or cross-cutting goals in areas where the best results are achieved by close working between two or more departments. It is important that departments consider how their spending proposals support these strategic policy goals. In 2022, HM Treasury updated the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance with requirements on departments to explain and evidence the impact of policy proposals on these medium-term policy goals.