The National Audit Office has warned that the value for money of 43 major government projects worth around £200 billion is at risk because of significant weaknesses in the Government’s commercial skills and expertise. But there is an even greater risk to many other complex projects where skills shortages are not being assessed systematically. The […]
This investigation examines DHSC’s performance in managing PPE contracts. It is a factual account of what has happened since November 2020.
Since the introduction of a new type of maintenance contract in 2001 by the Highways Agency there have been some improvements in the quality and delivery to budget of maintenance on England’s motorways and trunk roads. However, according to a report by the National Audit Office, costs have risen, with those for routine maintenance increasing […]
This report sets out the lessons for government and departments to learn from the experience of implementing digital change.
The Government received a good price when selling its interest in British Energy. But it is too early to say whether the sale will enable the Government to achieve its strategic objective of ensuring nuclear operators are able to build and operate new nuclear power stations from the earliest possible date and with no public […]
This paper has been prepared for the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee to support their inquiry on Private Finance.
This report is a detailed review of government contracts let to Randox between January 2020 and December 2021.
The National Audit Office has been unable to conclude that the Ministry of Defence has achieved value for money from the procurement phase of its £10.5 billion private finance deal for the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA), according to a report released today. Despite managing the later stages of the procurement well, the MOD’s ability […]
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 […]
This report examines the Department for Education’s funding provision and distribution of funding for mainstream schools in England.
This report looks at the Office for Student’s responsibilities for financial regulation of higher education providers.
Central government could make large savings by better managing its contracts for services such as IT, security, catering and cleaning, according to a report today by the National Audit Office. Better contract management could potentially generate estimated savings of between £160 million and £290 million a year, across total annual expenditure on service contracts of […]
Most PFI hospital contracts are well-managed and the evidence indicates that they are currently achieving the value for money expected when the contracts were signed. There continue to be risks, however, to the long-term value for money of these contracts.
This report outlines how the public service pensions landscape has changed since the Hutton Review and highlights future challenges.
By transferring ownership or leases of around 60 per cent of its estate (591 properties) to a private contractor, Mapeley, in 2001, the Inland Revenue and HM Customs & Excise planned to reduce their running costs and had the opportunity to save up to £1.2 billion by reducing the size of the estate. However, in […]
The project to replace the UK’s ageing Anti Air Warfare capability, which is currently provided by the Type 42 destroyer, has suffered significant delays of over two years and costs have escalated to some £6½ billion, up by nearly 30 per cent from initial estimates of £5 billion. More recently, the project has progressed well, […]
A report today by the National Audit Office has found that the failure of Metronet – a private infrastructure company responsible for the maintenance and upgrade of sections of the London Underground – has led to an estimated direct loss to the taxpayer of between £170 million and £410 million. There has also been an […]
The Office of Fair Trading has improved its operations following recommendations on maintaining competition in markets made by the National Audit Office and Committee of Public Accounts in 2005 and 2006. According to an NAO progress report published today, the OFT now needs to concentrate its efforts on strengthening the skills and experience of its […]
Evidence from 12 large national charities shows that their delivery of public services could be undermined and limited by the complexity of the arrangements by which they receive public funding. Today’s report by the National Audit Office found that charities’ funding relationships with public bodies, including central government departments, local authorities and health trusts can […]