When this Committee last reported in 2016 it noted that the quality of oversight by departments was inconsistent.20 There remains a lack of consistency in how ALBs work with departments and how they are held to account. In order to try and bring greater uniformity to how departments and ALBs work together, the Cabinet Office introduced its Code of Good Practice in 2017. However, the Cabinet Office does not monitor whether departments follow this code in practice and told the NAO that its curr...

When this Committee last reported in 2016 it noted that the quality of oversight by departments was inconsistent.20 There remains a lack of consistency in how ALBs work with departments and how they are held to account. In order to try and bring greater uniformity to how departments and ALBs work together, the Cabinet Office introduced its Code of Good Practice in 2017. However, the Cabinet Office does not monitor whether departments follow this code in practice and told the NAO that its current approach is not to monitor and understand how departments are overseeing their ALBs.21 In 2016, this Committee also noted that more benchmarking of A Type: conclusion | Number: 11 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: 3: PAC conclusion: Departments do not receive enough support from Cabinet Office in certain aspects of arm’s-length bodies management. 3: PAC recommendation: The Cabinet Office should write to us by January 2022, setting out how it will use its new strategy