A 10 year failure to update pensions leaflets correctly has caused considerable distress to many thousands of people, and will cost the taxpayer at least £2.5 billion, and probably considerably more, according to two reports to Parliament published today. The two reports* – one by Sir John Bourn, the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today reported the results of his examination of the Benefits Agency’s Appropriation Account. Sir John qualified his audit opinion on the account due to the level of benefit fraud and the level of error in benefit awards, principally in income support and jobseeker’s allowance. This account […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament on the 2000-2001 Teachers’ Pension Scheme (England and Wales) Resource Account. He has limited the scope of the audit opinion because the Managers of the Scheme were unable to provide him at the date of his opinion with sufficient evidence to support […]
The National Audit Office has today published the findings of its investigation into the Department for Work & Pensions’ closure of its 1993 and 2003 ‘Child Support Agency’ child maintenance schemes.
The Department for Work and Pensions successfully managed the introduction of the new state pension, but it is not yet clear whether the simplified system will encourage people to save more for their retirement.
More needs to be done to encourage older people – an increasingly large proportion of the population – to use government e-services if those services are to provide value for money, according to the National Audit Office. The government set itself a target that everyone who wants access to the internet has it by the […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the pioneering 31-year *Private Finance Initiative deal to redevelop the office accommodation of the Inland Revenue and Department of Social Security in Newcastle is likely to deliver the improved accommodation sought. This would be at a higher direct cost than continuing with […]
The Audit Commission and the National Audit Office today published the results of their comprehensive joint review of education and training for existing and trainee nurses, midwives and other healthcare staff. Getting the development of these staff right is fundamental to meeting patients’ needs, improving services, reducing risks and modernising the NHS. The reports make […]
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas Morse, has qualified his audit opinion on the regularity of the 2015-16 accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions. This is owing to the unacceptably high level of fraud and error in benefit expenditure, other than State Pension where the level of fraud and error is lower.
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn today reported on the Connexions Service, concluding that it is a radical change in the delivery of advice and guidance to young people and is on target to meeting its major objective of reducing the proportion of 16- to 18-year olds not in education, employment or […]
This memorandum has been prepared for the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee to provide information on the Department for Work and Pensions Information Technology Programmes.
It is important that the Government ensures its compliance programme reflects the changing risks within the labour market, and maintains its progress in ensuring all employers pay the minimum wage.
In a report to Parliament today, head of the NAO Sir John Bourn recognised that the outsourcing of the Department of Social Security’s medical assessment service had reduced costs and speeded up the turnaround of work. But the standard of medical assessments and the quality of service to benefit customers need to improve. The service […]
The Department for Work and Pensions has not yet achieved value for money in managing contracted-out health and disability assessments.
The welfare cap is encouraging a greater understanding of spending on some benefits and tax credits across government, but it is important that processes for managing the cap are reliable.