• Sponsor bodies should assure themselves that a programme's critical path identifies all the contributing activities needed to bring a programme to completion, including when issues and delays with one element might threaten the delivery of the whole programme. This should include elements that may be beyond the immediate control of programme managers, so that sponsor bodies can work with others to identify mitigating activities should these elements fail to materialise on time.
• Bodies should clearly define who is responsible for integration, and ensure that they have the appropriate authority and levers to co-ordinate other elements of the programme.
• When a government intends a programme to have wider benefits, it should put in place a plan setting out how these wider benefits will be achieved and who is responsible for doing this, particularly when the benefits might depend on other departments not delivering the core programme. When bodies outside government are needed to deliver benefits, there should be a strategy for influencing them to do so. The government may also need to consider whether extra funding may be needed to achieve these benefits.