At a cost of £1.47 billion by March 2009, Train to Gain had supported employer-focused training for over one million learners, and had developed a skills brokerage service with which a majority of employers was satisfied. But while Train to Gain has achieved undoubted benefits for employers, the NAO has concluded that over its full […]
Financial pressures are growing on local authority maintained schools and the capacity of local authorities to support financial management in schools is itself under pressure. The Department for Education needs a system for alerting it to problems requiring intervention.
This report examines Defra’s approach to developing the Future Farming and Countryside Programme.
Achievements and participation of 16- to 18-year-olds in education have improved, but issues with performance management and accountability arrangements remain.
A Department for Work and Pensions programme to reduce the number of people claiming incapacity benefits and help them into work has had a limited impact and, while a serious attempt to tackle an intractable issue, has turned out to provide poor value for money.
Our financial audit reports contain audit opinions on accounts across the public sector.
DFID has improved its core financial management and has an ambitious programme underway to improve its focus on value for money. But it cannot yet assess important aspects of the value for money of the aid it has delivered, at an aggregated level.
This report assesses the Ministry of Defence’s approach to reducing and reforming its civilian workforce.
This report is a broad review of the BBC’s approach to pay.
Whitehall initiatives to revive former coalfield communities have helped to make them more attractive places to live and work but many remain among the most deprived areas in England and opportunities to help train local people and promote local businesses have been missed, the NAO has today reported. The regeneration effort has three strands: the […]
The Cabinet Office is responsible for the Business Appointment Rules, but has not published any guidelines, and has no oversight of departmental compliance.
This investigation focuses on the circumstances relating to the monitoring of Learndirect Ltd by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, the inspection of the company by Ofsted, and the funding of the company by various government bodies.
In this report we outline what HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s (HMCTS) change portfolio to modernise and upgrade the justice system will deliver, consider early progress against plans and explore how HMCTS and its partners have managed the change portfolio and the risks it faces in the future.
The Department for Education should set out the planned overall impact of the programme on productivity and growth.
The Department is exerting stronger oversight and sanctioning under-performing providers but there remain issues to resolve, such as more timely identification of underperformance and ineligible payments.