The National Audit Office (NAO) is the UK’s independent public spending watchdog. We support Parliament in holding government to account and we help improve public services through our high-quality audits.

We have a five-year strategy from 2020 to 2025.

Our strategic priorities

In order to fulfil our purpose, we have three strategic priorities:

  • Improving our support for effective accountability and scrutiny

We provide assurance that public resources are accounted for accurately and used as intended. When this does not happen, we point it out. We will upgrade our methodology and software to deliver higher-quality audits using data analytics. This will provide Parliament with deeper insights to scrutinise public spending, and those responsible for the governance of the bodies we audit with the assurance they need.

  • Increasing our impact on outcomes and value for money

Our work focuses on the issues that matter and we will place greater emphasis on where we can influence long-term value for money. We will make better use of our analytical and audit expertise to identify how public services can be improved. This will allow more insightful and practical recommendations that lead to better outcomes.

  • Providing more accessible independent insight

We will be known as a valuable source of knowledge on how well public resources are used and how the governance and performance of public services can be improved. We will synthesise what we know on important issues and make it easier for others to understand and apply the lessons from our work.

Our strategic enablers

To achieve our strategic priorities, we have three strategic enablers:

  • We attract, retain and develop high quality people

Our people are proud to be part of our diverse, inclusive and healthy workplace. We attract talented people and support them to become even better at what they do, enhancing their careers and ensuring we have the skills and capabilities we need.

  • We make more effective use of technology, data and knowledge

We use technology and analysis of data to perform our audit work more effectively and to create and communicate new insights that cannot be achieved in other ways.

  • We aim to be an exemplar organisation

We lead by example in holding ourselves to the high standards we expect from public bodies. We are efficient, provide value for money and focus on long-term sustainability.

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