This investigation covers a single, major cause of underpayment error in ESA. This error relates to people whose existing benefit claim was converted to ESA and who were entitled to income-related ESA but were only awarded contribution-based ESA.
HM Revenue and Customs will have to make sure its staff have the right skills if the Department is to succeed in cutting its running costs by 25 per cent by 2014-2015 and bringing in each year an extra £7 billion of tax revenue.
Since 2003, government departments have improved the management of their finances. But stronger financial management is now more important than ever to ensure that every pound of public money is spent to best effect in an increasingly challenging financial environment. Central government manages more financial resources than ever before, and these are expected to grow […]
There is a shortfall of 5,170 (2.8 per cent) trained Armed Forces personnel against the Ministry of Defence’s estimated requirements. Only the Army is within “manning balance”, and there are wider shortages of personnel in specific trade groups. According to today’s report to Parliament, by head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn, there […]
HMRC has made progress in changing the way it deals with Corporation Tax for the largest businesses in the UK, the NAO says today, but there are ways in which it can improve, particularly in focusing on higher amounts of tax at risk. That was the main finding in today’s report to Parliament which recognises […]
Five years after its creation the Financial Services Authority, the independent body regulating the financial services industry in the UK, is a well-established regulator with an impressive set of processes and structures to help tackle high-risk organisations and markets. It now needs to streamline and fully integrate these processes and structures, and increase its focus […]
The National Audit Office has urged the NHS to ensure that a focus on quality and safety is at the top of the agenda in primary care. In a report out today, the NAO says that almost all primary care trusts (PCTS) have clinical governance structures and processes in place that should assure quality and […]
Pooling the Royal Navy’s, Army’s and Royal Air Force’s battlefield helicopters has brought significant benefits, Sir John Bourn, the head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today. Efficiencies have been produced through a joined up approach, by standardising procedures and removing duplication, but there is a large shortfall in helicopter capability and further improvements […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that he had identified five critical issues which departments must pay careful attention to if the extra £61 billion spent on improving public services over the next three years is to have its full impact. It is too early to tell whether […]
Most (81%) public bodies involved in PFI projects believe that they are achieving satisfactory or better value for money from their PFI contracts according to a National Audit Office report presented to Parliament today, based on the first ever major survey of central government PFI projects in progress. There was generally positive feedback from service […]
Sir John Bourn, the head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that the Prison Service has made good progress in improving its procurement of goods and services but that scope exists for further financial savings to be made. Performance in monitoring and controlling the consumption of goods and use of services and […]