We have published a series of reports which explore some of the major risks to public finances highlighted in the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA).
This memorandum was prepared for the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. It provides an overview of Research and Development (R&D) spending in the UK since 1995, details the flow of funding from public and private sources, and compares R&D spending in the UK with spending in other countries.
The role and remit of Local Enterprise Partnerships has grown since 2010, but the approach taken by DCLG to overseeing Growth Deals risks future value for money.
The Department of Health now needs to gain a better understanding of the different ways to commission personalised services for users, and how these lead to improvements in user outcomes.
Local authorities have kept up levels of capital spending but face pressure to meet debt costs and maintain investment in existing assets.
The MoD has developed a strategy that identifies the estate it needs and the 25% of its estate it can dispose of by 2040. However, the strategy and current funding levels allow only for a partial reversal of the decline in the condition of the remaining estate. There is a significant risk that the poor condition of the estate will affect the Department’s ability to provide the defence capability needed.
This briefing was prepared for the House of Commons Defence Committee to help inform its inquiry into the education of Service children, its third in a series of inquiries looking at the workings of the Armed Forces Covenant.
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.
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.
This briefing was prepared for the House of Commons Defence Committee to help inform its inquiry into the education of Service personnel, its fourth in a series of inquiries looking at the workings of the Armed Forces Covenant.
This briefing is prepared for the Communities and Local Government Committee of the House of Commons to provide an overview of the work and performance of the Department for Communities and Local Government in the financial year 2006-07 and subsequent months.
The Better Care Fund has not achieved the expected value for money, in terms of savings, outcomes for patients or hospital activity.
The Department for Education recognised since 2010 that child protection services are not good enough but its subsequent response has not yet resulted in better outcomes. Spending on children’s social work, including on child protection, varies widely across England and is not related to quality. Neither the DfE nor authorities understand why spending varies.
Having shown that the concept of a national citizen service has something to offer young people, to demonstrate value for money the OCS and the Trust now need to show they can grow NCS as intended and run it at a more affordable cost to the taxpayer.
Devolution deals to devolve power from central government to local areas in England offer opportunities to stimulate economic growth and reform public services for local users, but the arrangements are untested and government could do more to provide confidence that these deals will achieve the benefits intended
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.
The Ministry of Defence offers a good range of resettlement support for those leaving the Armed Forces, and most people adapt back into civilian life easily and comfortably. There are a minority of people who have a more difficult time finding employment, housing or making the social transition. A National Audit Office survey of those […]
The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Green Deal design not only failed to deliver any meaningful benefit, it increased suppliers’ costs – and therefore energy bills – in meeting their obligations through the ECO scheme.
Overall spending on discretionary local welfare support by central and local government has reduced since April 2013. The consequences of this gap in provision are not understood.
A briefing for the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee and the Energy and Climate Change Committee.