There are other issues around the ability of government to attract and retain the very best into these crucial leadership roles. One is about whether the leader will have the clout to make big, difficult things happen. For functional leaders at the centre of government, this is about the mandate. Part of that is the formal mandate, in which the role of a reinstated cabinet committee is important. But it is also really important for functional leaders to have a strong sense that senior ministers will support them. I completed the review and submitted my report in the autumn. I have made a number of recommendations, and it is for Ministers to decide which should be adopted. I have concluded that there are very substantial further efficiency savings that can be made. It is worth noting that the key to success in delivering these savings lies in the detail of how any of my recommendations are implemented. There are obvious financial benefits from this holistic approach. Furthermore, spaces that are used more intensively develop their own vibrancy and energy, and productivity and morale improves. Colocation leads to greater collaboration and understanding across the different parts of the public sector. I am grateful to officials in the Cabinet Office for administrative support in the conduct of my review, and for many in the functions and more widely for giving their time in interviews and in responding to requests for information.

Departments are required to collaborate with the IPA, providing verified & timely data, on the publication of the Annual Report on Major Projects [and the Government Major Projects and Programmes Report]. The IPA CEO will sign off all SRO appointments to major projects in the GMPP, jointly with the Departmental Accounting Officer, and has the right of veto on SRO selection for, and exit from, these projects. A new CEO of GDS should urgently be recruited at director general level. If this appointment can be made from within government, it should proceed without delay, and without waiting for the appointment of the GCDO.Good progress has been made since 2011 in creating a single government legal service: the Government Legal Department (GLD). This has enabled centres of specialist expertise in areas such as employment and commercial to be created. This has both reduced the need for skills to be duplicated in different places and also by creating centres of excellence has reduced the need for departments to engage external lawyers. Projects must gain the approval of the IPA to pass through any stage gates. Where this is not followed, the Treasury will withhold funding until there is clear evidence that the department has implemented the IPA’s

The better approach to delivering earned autonomy is to maintain the control framework on the tight basis that I am recommending here, but to operate the controls on a pragmatic and risk-aware basis. Moreover, for these functional leaders to be effective, they need to carry higher status. I recommend: Compact shredders can fit in small spaces, and these may be best for home-office use, or as personal shredders in either a home or an office. Some offer safety features such as automatic shutoff if one's hand touches the feeder slot. Others offer jam protection. Shredders, as a group, are not known for their exterior elegance, but some compact shredders are stylish enough to blend in nicely with an office's décor. Different campaigns by different departments on the same issue is confusing for citizens and a waste of time and money. The Government can achieve more with less if it is coordinated properly. A pooled centralised campaign budget is a vital tool in making that happen and delivering intelligent, data driven and effective There appears to have been almost no movement towards mandatory central procurement of commodity goods and services since PEX(ER) instructed in 2012 that it should gradually be introduced. I recommend in my report on the functions that this should at last be brought into operation, so that spend can be aggregated and very substantial savings be driven out of overall government expenditure. This will require much more extensive central spend controls to be introduced for each category of commodity goods and services as that category strategy begins to be implemented. These controls should operate initially with low thresholds, to ensure thatThe I-G should have the power to create data sharing gateways where needed to facilitate a coordinated approach to fighting fraud. Recharging for services provided by the central functions should in general be replaced by a simple allocation of “head office costs” to the line departments and entities. ‘Hard charging’ should be permitted only in rare and specific cases, and only with the explicit consent of Ministers at the centre of government.