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The Liaison Committee is publishing the Government’s response to a report by its predecessor committee on how select committee scrutiny can improve strategic thinking in Whitehall.

• Read the Government's response (HTML)
• Read the Government's response (PDF)
• Read the full report (HTML)
• Read the full report (PDF)
• Read all publications related to this inquiry, including oral and written evidence
• Inquiry: scrutiny of strategic thinking across Government
• Liaison Committee

Promoting national strategy: How select committee scrutiny can improve strategic thinking in Whitehall, was published on the eve of Dissolution, ahead of the 2024 General Election, when the Liaison Committee was chaired by Sir Bernard Jenkin MP.

In the response, the Prime Minister asserts that “Strategic thinking is at the heart of how the Government operates” and offers an update on how strategic thinking has been incorporated into current governance. 

The importance of strategic thinking is reflected in the establishment of “mission boards” at the heart of government, writes the Prime Minister, focussing on delivering long-term outcomes which “combine long-term renewal with short-term deliverables.”  

The Committee’s report called for a shared understanding of the terms around strategy to create a coherent approach across government. The PM has confirmed that a redefined working definition of the term government strategy has been implemented: “Strategy in government is the coherent mobilisation of capabilities, levers, resources and partnerships towards successfully achieving public policy outcomes.” 

Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, who was Chair of the Liaison Committee in the last Parliament and led the inquiry which produced the report, recently said:

“This shows select committees can have positive influence.  This is miles ahead of where we started, but there is still much further to go.  The Prime Minister has not said much about one of our key recommendations, the need to re-establish a new National School for Government and Public Services.  The previous Government left that decision to the forthcoming public Spending Review – we can be optimistic that this is still work in progress.  

“It is disappointing that the Government will not create a new Commons Select Committee for the Future, looking at national strategy and the impact on future generations, but this idea, which has been adopted in other national parliaments, will not go away.” 

Dame Meg Hillier MP, current chair of Liaison, recently said:  

“We welcome the Prime Minister’s response. We hope it is the beginning of a conversation between ministers and Parliament which will shift Government’s strategic thinking beyond the usual cut and thrust of a five year parliamentary term. It’s vital that ministers and select committees work together to address current and future challenges with a view to delivering for the current generation and the next. The Liaison Committee will continue to take an active interest in this whole question, and how strategic thinking is embedded in the whole of Government.” 

In Promoting national strategy: How select committee scrutiny can improve strategic thinking in Whitehall, MPs called for a profound rethink of Government decision-making to force successive governments to take a longer view and more creative and collaborative approach to the challenges facing the UK.  

The key recommendations were:  

• A Committee for the Future to include the voice and interests of future generations in planning which will directly impact them, which would hold ministers and officials to account.  
• A binding commitment to a physical campus for a new National School for Government and Public Services to develop a strong, shared culture of strategic thinking across government and members of Parliament.  
• A UK-wide strategy delivered by a new Government at the start of each Parliament, underpinned by national strategic priorities.

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees