The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is to merge with the Ministry of Defence, CSW understands, under radical plans being drawn up by ministers to break down traditional Whitehall barriers.
Senior ministers have long expressed concern that the two departments are not doing enough to work together, and the lack of join up between the organisations was brought into sharp focus by the MoD's recent refusal to authorise the use of six fighter jets for a DCMS staff away day.
The MoD has also been frustrated by DCMS's decision not to grant funding for a seventeen part Netflix documentary on defence procurement.
Terminological inexactitudes: handy translations of Whitehall jargon (Vol. 12)
Ministry of Defence to vacate ten more sites as department seeks to shrink estate
The combined ministry will be unveiled after the Easter recess, Whitehall sources indicated, with the move expected to see all current MoD and DCMS staff moved to a combined hot-desking hub in Woking. The MoD's HQ has already been earmarked for use as a high security ministerial rec room.
Flo Parilos of the Institute for Cross-departmental Collaboration think tank welcomed the move.
"Tensions between the two departments have become the stuff of Whitehall legend," she told CSW. "When it gets to the stage where long-serving MoD colleagues are shouting 'Don't forget - we've got tanks!' down the phone after being told they can't get into the Spectre premiere, you know you've got to do something bold."
Update: Since we've passed noon, congratulations to those eagle-eyed readers who spotted our first stab at an April Fool's story!