Conclusions and recommendations
1. Each
Department has its natural group of "clients", and may
not readily recognise when its policies affect the "clients"
of another Department. Even when the Government sets itself admirable
targets, such as that to reduce road death and injury, departments
such as the Home Office can fail to work as they should to implement
it. We believe that part of our value is that we can take evidence
from across government, and challenge Government Departments to
act as part of a greater whole. (Paragraph 14)
2. The increase in
committee resources has not only allowed us to undertake a wide
range of inquiries, but has given us the flexibility to adjust
our programme in response to events. The experts from the Scrutiny
Unit who are used to working for committees and can be drawn on
to assist at short notice have given us essential extra help.
(Paragraph 17)
3. We applaud the
Department for Transport's initiative in sharing its legislative
plans at an early stage. However, any departments which are considering
following its example must realise that the quality of the contribution
a committee can make to such dialogue depends both on the quality
of the Government's initial contribution, and on the time Committees
have available to scrutinise it. (Paragraph 25)
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