We questioned the Department about how it decided which bids from other government departments it would provide funding for. Special advisers were invited to discuss the initial assessments from the Department’s officials before final advice was given to Ministers.15 Correspondence from the Department showed that in the meeting to discuss bids five special advisers were present alongside officials from the Department, HM Treasury and the Prime Minister’s Office.16 The Department told us that ...

We questioned the Department about how it decided which bids from other government departments it would provide funding for. Special advisers were invited to discuss the initial assessments from the Department’s officials before final advice was given to Ministers.15 Correspondence from the Department showed that in the meeting to discuss bids five special advisers were present alongside officials from the Department, HM Treasury and the Prime Minister’s Office.16 The Department told us that advice was often written by officials which special advisers then commented on, as was appropriate. However, in the interests of working at pace it had b Type: conclusion | Number: 6 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 2.2 DCMS agrees that appropriate records of decisions, especially in relation to funding, should always be kept. In this instance, as the DCMS Permanent Secretary confi