The NAO has called for government to negotiate greater access to information about how much outsourced public services are actually costing suppliers and therefore how much profit they are making.
The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides relating to each government department and some cross-government issues, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
This document summarises the findings of our work and identifies sources of help that may be useful to local areas and government departments supporting local public service reform.
The NAO has called for government to negotiate greater access to information about how much outsourced public services are actually costing suppliers and therefore how much profit they are making.
UK Government says it is on track to meet target to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020. Local authorities’ ability to secure suitable school places and houses a risk to success. NAO estimate programme will cost £1.12bn by 2020.
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 Better Care Fund has not achieved the expected value for money, in terms of savings, outcomes for patients or hospital activity.
Local authorities have kept up levels of capital spending but face pressure to meet debt costs and maintain investment in existing assets.
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.
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.
The CQC, the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England, has made substantial progress but needs to recruit and train staff and build a new organisational culture.
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
Services and outcomes for people with neurological conditions need further improvement.
This report highlights the issues our case study areas told us were important to them in carrying out the Care Act. Local authorities may find their experience informative as they continue to develop their own approaches to carrying out the Care Act.
This paper explores the principles departments should use to manage provider failure. There is room for improvement in the way failure of providers is considered and managed.
Fire and rescue authorities have managed funding reductions well. The Department for Communities and Local Government should, however, seek greater assurance that authorities are maintaining service standards and delivering value for money locally
The government has made a commitment to improve support for young people leaving foster or residential care in England but the system is not working effectively.
While the impact of the Pupil Premium will take time to become clear, it has the potential to bring about a significant improvement in outcomes. However, the Department for Education and schools have more to do.
This Departmental Overview is one of 17 we are producing covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the Department for Communities and Local Government during 2013-14.