Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund Account
Published on:The NAO welcomes the progress being made by the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency in reducing levels of fraud and error in benefit payments.
The NAO welcomes the progress being made by the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency in reducing levels of fraud and error in benefit payments.
The provision of adequate adult social care poses a significant public service challenge. Demand for care is rising while public spending is falling.
The jobcentre network has coped well in the economic downturn, but must improve performance measures if it is to support claimants effectively.
Government is owed a large amount of money but has no overall view of its debt reduction objectives nor of the financial risk that the debt poses.
This commentary, on the first set of Work Programme data, has been produced for the Committee of Public Accounts.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has today qualified his audit opinion on the 2011-12 Social Fund White Paper Account.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, has published his audit opinion on the 2011-12 accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has qualified his opinion on the regularity of receipts and payments because of the level of error in maintenance assessments. He has also given an adverse opinion on the truth and fairness of the outstanding maintenance arrears.
The C&AG has today made available on the NAO website a short report prepared for the Department for Work and Pensions on the Department’s management of its contractual relationship with its primary medical services provider, along with the Department’s response to his recommendations.
This Departmental Overview is one of 15 we are producing covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the Department for Work and Pensions during 2011-12.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has once again been unable to give a full sign off to the Client Funds Account of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
DWP is working to manage the introduction of the housing benefit reforms and has a critical role to play in anticipating adverse consequences.
Review of a sample of the data systems underpinning the input and impact indicators in the Department for Work and Pensions’ Business Plan, Common Areas of Spend and wider management information.
Our 2016 memorandum was prepared to inform the Work and Pensions Committee’s inquiry into the future of Jobcentre Plus (JCP), including the likely effects of planned welfare policy changes on JCP footfall and journey time to jobcentres. In October 2017 we published an associated interactive data model allowing exploration of the time it will take for people to travel to their nearest jobcentre.
Plans by CMEC to reduce its spending are based on uncertain estimates. There is a risk that additional cuts might be needed late on in the Spending Review which could have an adverse effect on services.
After a poor start, the performance of the Work Programme is at similar levels to previous programmes but is less than original forecast. The Department has struggled to improve outcomes for harder-to-help groups. The Programme has the potential to offer value for money if it can achieve the higher rates of performance the Department now expects.
The Pensions Regulator and other agencies regulating defined contribution pension schemes should take a concerted approach towards collecting evidence and assessing risks to members.
The Department for Work and Pensions has introduced the Work Programme quickly, in just over a year, and this has had benefits, but the speed with which it was launched has also increased risks. The Department and providers have made assumptions about how many people the Programme will get back into work but there is a significant risk that they are over-optimistic.
The DWP has had to delay the Personal Independence Payment programme’s roll-out and reduce expected savings during this Spending Review period.
The C&AG has qualified the Social Fund Account for the eighth consecutive year. The account has been qualified because of material levels of error in discretionary awards, which include Budgeting Loans, Crisis Loans and Community Care Grants, and in Funeral Expense Payments. He has also qualified, for the first time, his opinion on Cold Weather Payments.