This page is part of our successful commissioning toolkit. Introduction Ministers ask a central government department to establish a scheme to improve safety on the road for cyclists. A policy manager is put in charge of this. She holds a meeting with internal stakeholders, including those responsible for service delivery, finance and legal advice. From this […]
With the number of further education (FE) colleges in financial difficulty expected to rise rapidly, there are fundamental structural problems which might require decisions at a regional or sector-wide level.
This page is part of our successful commissioning toolkit. Within a public sector organisation, commissioning and establishing good financial relationships with third sector organisations (TSOs) involves: people at different levels – from senior officials, acting as Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) of a programme, to staff responsible for programme implementation; and people with different functions – while […]
This page is part of our decision support tool. Generic funding model 1: ‘straightforward procurement’ Key features Channel Procurement Intermediaries No Degree of competition Open Duration of contract Three years Payment formula Linked to outputs/outcomes Mainly in arrears Monitoring and evaluation Focus on outputs/outcomes Inspection (risk-based) Illustrative scenario Strategic decisions The objectives of your programme […]
This report highlights the key financial results that the C&AG judges to be important to the interpretation of the audited financial statements with respect to the underlying activities and timescales involved.
Local authorities have worked hard to manage reductions in government funding, but the DCLG needs to be better informed about the situation across England.
Local authorities have worked hard to manage reductions in government funding, but the DCLG needs to be better informed about the situation across England.
This page is part of our successful commissioning toolkit. The rules on when you can use grant and when you can use procurement mean there are many situations when a public body could use either. You need to decide which one is more suitable for your programme, service or intended outcome and is likely to provide the […]
This page is part of our successful commissioning toolkit. Grant is an extremely useful way for a public body to fund a third sector organisation (TSO) for activity that is in line with one or more of the public body’s objectives. For example, a council that is concerned about the poor wellbeing of one of the communities […]
The Government has committed £933 million from the Libor Fund, but cannot yet confirm that all the money has been used as intended.
This report examines the value for money of Network Rail’s sale of a major part of its commercial real estate portfolio.
This page is part of our decision support tool. Full cost recovery [Footnote 1] The government recognises that: No activity can be undertaken without its provider incurring central administrative costs A funder or commissioner has an interest in meeting its fair share of a provider’s central administrative costs because that will help to ensure that […]
The Department has increased local authorities’ flexibility over their funding, but as a result has less information on how funds are being spent.
Amyas Morse, Comptroller and Auditor General has qualified his audit opinions on the National College for Teaching and Leadership’s (NCTL) 2016-17 Accounts due to a limitation in the scope of his audit of the regularity of the NCTL’s grant expenditure.
11 January 2018
This report focuses on the financial sustainability of further education and sixth-form colleges.
This page is part of our decision support tool. What is it for? Financial relationships between TSOs and government bodies are not as good as they should be. The government’s financial principles in this area are sound. But the gap between these principles and the practical task of designing and operating a funding model that […]
This page is part of our decision support tool. What is meant by the term ‘third sector organisation’ (TSO)? Organisations are traditionally divided on the basis of‘private’ or ‘public’, and ‘for-profit’ or ‘not-for-profit’.Organisations which are established on a not-for-profit basis, and which are not directly controlled by the state (not part of the public sector) […]
This page is part of our successful commissioning toolkit. The government and the Compact recognises that: No activity can be undertaken without its provider incurring central administrative costs; [Note 1] Funders and commissioners have an interest in meeting their fair share of a provider’s central administrative costs because that will help to ensure that the provider […]
This page is part of our decision support tool. Principles Government bodies’ use of the three channels (procurement, grant, grant-in-aid) available for funding the activities of TSOs has been highly inconsistent in relation to TSOs. There are a number of reasons for this: Many actual cases do not fit neatly into any one of the […]
Young people are making complex choices about higher education without much effective help and advice, and the institutions concerned are under very little competitive pressure to provide best value.