It is estimated that over a million social homes have been improved by the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Decent Homes Programme, which aims to improve the condition of homes for social housing tenants. The Department has also provided funding to improve conditions for vulnerable households in private sector accommodation. But the National Audit Office […]
Venues and infrastructure for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games are on track to be delivered on time for the Games and the cost is currently forecast to be within the £9,325 million budget for the Games announced in March 2007, according to a progress report to Parliament by the National Audit Office. However, […]
The NAO has published the findings from its investigation into members’ experience of civil service pension administration.
This report examines whether Ofsted’s approach to inspecting schools is providing value for money. We assessed Ofsted’s role, performance and impact.
The BBC’s approach to managing its workforce shows definite progress. It will need to monitor workforce changes carefully to build on the recent progress it has made.
The National Audit Office has concluded that the public support provided to UK banks by the Treasury was justified, given the scale of the economic and social costs if one or more major banks had collapsed. In providing that support, moreover, the Treasury met two of the government’s principal objectives: protecting depositors’ money in banks and […]
There has been much public discussion about the affordability of public service pensions. To inform that debate, the National Audit Office has today published a report designed to bring greater transparency to, and understanding of, the cash costs involved. Today’s report found: Total payments to more than 2 million pensioners in the UK’s four largest […]
The National Audit Office has today reported to Parliament that there are risks to value for money from the way the Legal Services Commission (the LSC) administers and procures legal aid for criminal cases. In 2008-09, the Commission spent more than £1.1 billion on criminal legal aid – legal assistance for people suspected of or […]
The NAO has published its investigation into misuse of the Flexible Support Fund in Plaistow jobcentre. The report looks at how the Department for Work & Pensions responded to allegations of misuse at the jobcentre.
Older people are a growing group for HM Revenue & Customs and significant numbers pay too much or too little tax, according to a report released today by the National Audit Office. Errors occur because many people’s tax affairs become more complicated when they reach pension age and HMRC’s systems do not cope well with […]
Many of the long standing problems in providing offenders with effective and useful learning and skills training have yet to be overcome following the establishment of the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS). Offenders who find employment upon their release are less likely to reoffend, which is why improving their training and skills could contribute […]
The Department for Work & Pensions is not doing enough to find out how sanctions affect people on benefits.
The government’s reform programme to improve attainment and participation in education and training for 14 to 19 year olds has wide support at local level, including for the new Diplomas, which seek to blend general education with applied learning. The National Audit Office has today reported that the reform programme has met its key milestones […]
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.
The new contract for general practice has contributed to improved recruitment and retention of GPs, with numbers increasing from 26,833 to 30,931 since 2003. However, according to a report out today by the National Audit Office, the contract has cost the Department £1.76 billion more than it originally budgeted for. Today’s report found that, in […]
The O2, a central part of plans to regenerate the Greenwich Peninsula, opened on time in June 2007 and has become a highly successful entertainment venue which has boosted local employment. According to the National Audit Office, however, housing development on the rest of the Peninsula is taking longer than originally expected, and financial returns […]
The government’s approach to managing the risks to schools’ financial sustainability cannot be judged to be effective or providing value for money until more progress is made.
HM Revenue & Customs faces large peaks in its workload but, by introducing different filing deadlines for paper and online Income Tax Self Assessment returns, it has smoothed some of those peaks. A National Audit Office report today found that, in 2007-08, HMRC received more than a quarter of the 4 million Tax Credit renewals […]
The majority of carers who receive benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are satisfied with the support they receive, worth up to £2 billion a year. The Department is delivering carers’ benefits effectively and has made improvements in processing claims in the last few years. But at least a fifth have difficulties […]