In our February 2024 report on cross-government working we concluded that “effective cross-government working is fundamental to delivering government’s priorities but there is a lot of work to do to make it more than just a ‘nice to have’”. However, the IPA told us that ensuring that stakeholders are involved at all stages still does not come naturally to departments, despite the fact that it is required as part of the national infrastructure planning process and is key to the success of a project.13