Governance co-ordination challenges in the UK’s ‘mission-led government’

This article assesses the extent to which ‘mission-led government’ offers solutions to the UK’s governance co-ordination challenges. By setting goals that stimulate multi-actor responses, mission-led government aims to tackle cross-cutting societal challenges, such as public ill-health, environmental degradation, and stalling growth. Through analysis of policy documents, using the government’s health mission as a core example, this article considers this agenda against five governance co-ordination challenges: over time, between policy priorities, across government agencies, across different tiers of government, and between state and non-state actors. The impact of mission-led government varies across these challenges: there are examples of progress in co-ordination over time and across government tiers, but significant limitations and ambiguities across the agenda. A core problem is that mission-oriented policy-making is interpreted as a solution to co-ordination challenges, when it is better understood as a framework within which solutions can be developed.