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Committee publication · Correspondence · 19 December 2024

Letter to the Prime Minister regarding the anticipated Government response to the Committee's first report of Session 2023-24, Promoting national strategy: How select committee scrutiny can improve strategic thinking in Whitehall, dated 18 December 2024.

From: Liaison Committee (Commons)

Summary

The Liaison Committee chair writes to the Prime Minister requesting a substantive government response to the Committee's report on strategic thinking in Whitehall, which examines how select committee scrutiny can combat short-termism in policymaking. The chair notes the Prime Minister's letter of 13 December and confirms the report's relevance to the Government's Plan for Change.

Key findings

  • The predecessor Committee's report emphasises the importance of Government focusing on long-term priorities rather than short-term policymaking.
  • The report, agreed at the end of the last Parliament, argues for Parliament's role in encouraging Whitehall to move away from short-termism.
  • The Prime Minister has indicated the Committee's report has been useful in developing the Plan for Change.
  • The Liaison Committee has formally agreed to request a substantive government response to the report.

Tone

Procedural

Topics

government-strategyparliamentary-scrutinyselect-committeespolicy-making

Key actors

Dame Meg Hillier MP, Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer MP, Liaison Committee, Matt Byatt

Notable line

“… the importance of the Government focusing on long-term priorities and the role of Parliament in encouraging Whitehall to move away from the short-termism in policymaking.”

Key Quotes

“The report, entitled Promoting national strategy: How select committee scrutiny can improve strategic thinking in Whitehall was agreed by the Liaison Committee at the end of the last Parliament.”
— Dame Meg Hillier MP · Clarifying the status and timing of the predecessor Committee's report
“It sets out the importance of the Government focusing on long-term priorities and the role of Parliament in encouraging Whitehall to move away from the short-termism in policymaking.”
— Dame Meg Hillier MP · Summarising the report's key argument
“I am pleased that the Committee's report has been useful in developing the Plan for Change.”
— Dame Meg Hillier MP · Acknowledging the Prime Minister's reference to the report's relevance
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Source · parliament.uk record ↗