The NDA’s fundamental failures in the Magnox contract procurement raise serious questions about its understanding of procurement regulations and its ability to manage large, complex procurements.
Homelessness has increased across all measures since 2010, with many local authorities now seeing it as a risk to their financial sustainability.
Schools, especially secondary schools, face real challenges in retaining and developing their teachers. National data suggest progress but mask significant local variation.
The Government has committed £933 million from the Libor Fund, but cannot yet confirm that all the money has been used as intended.
The cost of clinical negligence in trusts is significant and rising fast, placing increasing financial pressure on an already stretched system.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas Morse, has today qualified the accounts of High Speed Two (HS2) Limited owing to its running a redundancy scheme at enhanced terms without the necessary approvals.
The Whole of Government Accounts provide a unique perspective owing to their reach and approach to measuring the government’s financial performance and position.
The Cabinet Office is responsible for the Business Appointment Rules, but has not published any guidelines, and has no oversight of departmental compliance.
Official Development Assistance is being increasingly spent by departments other than the Department for International Development.
Amyas Morse, the Comptroller and Auditor General, has today issued a report on the 2016-17 accounts of HM Revenue & Customs.
The first sale of government shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland in August 2015 was well planned and organised and represented value for money.
HMRC has made progress in developing the new customs system, which was part of its existing programme, but it may need to be ready much earlier than originally planned if there is no agreement extending timescales on the transition to any new customs arrangements
The case for a huge expansion of electronic monitoring using GPS was unproven, but the Ministry of Justice pursued an overly ambitious and high risk strategy anyway. Ultimately it has not delivered.
For combined authorities to deliver real progress they will need to demonstrate that they can drive economic growth and contribute to public sector reform.
Funding for ongoing health care is a complex and highly sensitive area, which can affect some of the most vulnerable people in society and those that care for them.
In May 2012, the Department of Transport expected the tram-train scheme to be completed by Dec 2015. It is now expected to be completed in May 2018.
Online fraud is now the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales, but has been overlooked by government, law enforcement and industry.
Government does not know how many people in prison have a mental illness, how much it is spending on mental health in prisons or whether it is achieving its objectives. It is therefore hard to see how Government can be achieving value for money in its efforts to improve the mental health and well being of prisoners. In 2016 there were 40,161 incidents of self-harm in prisons and 120 self-inflicted deaths.
The Bank of England has made progress in its aim to operate in a more unified way following its expansion. More is needed to embed cultural change and deliver long term data projects.
The NAO has investigated how NHS Shared Business Services handled its backlog of unprocessed clinical correspondence.