The Home Office has made substantial improvements in its financial management since 2006, when the Comptroller and Auditor General disclaimed an opinion on its 2004-05 Resource Accounts. Further sustained improvement will still be needed over the next few years, so that good financial management becomes “business as usual” across all of the Department’s operations, which […]
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.
It is important that the services for vulnerable people at the Yarls Wood Immigration Removal Centre are delivered ‘right first time’ and this did not happen here. Steps are now being taken to address the problems but 35% of the recommendations from Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons’ 2015 inspection have not yet been implemented.
Against a backdrop of increasing pressure on NHS finances, NHS England has not controlled the rising cost of specialised services.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made good progress in its financial management, aiming to establish itself as one of the best departments in Whitehall in this respect. It has shown strong leadership in raising the profile of good financial management across the Department, according to a report today from the National Audit Office. Up […]
The NAO has conducted an investigation into DFID’s approach to tackling fraud, following an increase in the potential risks after the government committed to spend 0.7% of GDP on foreign aid.
Delivering the National Programme for IT in the NHS is proving to be an enormous challenge. All elements of the Programme are advancing and some are complete, but the original timescales for the electronic Care Records Service, one of the central elements of the Programme, turned out to be unachievable, raised unrealistic expectations and put […]
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 […]
The disposal of former Northern Rock mortgages and loans in 2015 was the government’s largest ever financial asset sale. When judged against the Government’s objective to shrink the balance sheet swiftly the deal was value for money.
The BBC Trust today (28 January 2010) published an independent report commissioned from the National Audit Office on the BBC’s management of its coverage of major sporting and music events. The NAO review looked at the effectiveness of the BBC’s management of its coverage of major sporting and music events, once the decision to cover […]
This report contributes to the debate on incentivising public sector performance. It brings together the evidence on the effectiveness of sanctions and rewards (we commissioned Deloitte to conduct a review of the literature), summarises the results of our survey on their use in central government, and provides a practical guide on how to use them well. Discussions about how to lever greater levels of performance increasingly propose the use of these measures.
The BBC Trust today (18 March 2009) published an independent report it had commissioned from the National Audit Office on the BBC’s management of its strategic contracts with the private sector. Jeremy Peat, BBC Trustee, said: “The Trust welcomes this report from the NAO into the BBC’s strategic contracts. We are pleased that the NAO […]
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.
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 Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas Morse, has qualified his audit opinion on the regularity of the 2015-16 accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions. This is owing to the unacceptably high level of fraud and error in benefit expenditure, other than State Pension where the level of fraud and error is lower.
The Better Care Fund has not achieved the expected value for money, in terms of savings, outcomes for patients or hospital activity.
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.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has provided an adverse opinion on the truth and fairness of the Department for Education’s group financial statements 2015-16. He has also qualified his regularity opinion because the Department has exceeded two of its expenditure limits authorised by Parliament. The Department has many challenges to overcome if it is to implement successfully its plans to provide Parliament with a better picture of academy trusts’ spending next year.
The programme to upgrade to the Thameslink routes through London has a realistic prospect of delivering value for money but there remains risks which the Department for Transport and Network Rail need to manage carefully.
A £330 million programme has enhanced the 46 English Fire and Rescue Services’ capacity to respond to terrorist attacks and other catastrophic incidents such as major flooding. But better value for money could have been secured in the procurement of the specialist vehicles and equipment, according to a National Audit Office report out today. The New […]