The Department for Work and Pensions has made significant progress in delivering services through contact centres so that they are delivering improvements in value for money, but needs to continue to tackle a variety of barriers to exploit their full potential, according to a National Audit Office report published today. The Department’s 60 contact centres […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today on the progress that Departments have made in establishing robust data systems to measure and report performance against 2003-06 Public Service Agreement targets. This report presents the overall findings from the NAO’s examination of the data systems used by 18 Departments and the cross […]
Since the early 1990s, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Driving Standards Agency and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency have made some of their services available either through the internet, by telephone or through business to business computer systems. A report released today by the National Audit Office has found that these developments […]
Government-led initiatives to help unemployed people find work are having a real impact. Programmes such as the New Deal have helped reduce the number of people on benefit, and the average length of claims. However, too many people still do not stay in work once they have found it and more now needs to be […]
The Department for International Development works well with civil society organisations (CSOs) to help some of the world’s poorest people, according to today’s National Audit Office report. But the department needs better information on the effectiveness of CSOs in developing countries, and on the impact of its assistance, if it is to ensure aid is […]
Overall levels of violent crime have fallen by 9.0 per cent since 2002-03 and the number of serious violent offences recorded by the police has fallen by 5.9 per cent over the same period. The Home Office’s actions to encourage local areas to address domestic violence and alcohol related crime are likely to have made […]
In December 2015 a five year contract, worth around £800 million between UnitingCare Partnership and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough clinical commissioning group collapsed after only 8 months because it ran into financial difficulties. NAO examined the design, procurement and operation of the contract and the events that led to its termination.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has made progress in improving the design of some leaflets but could go further to make them easier for the public to understand and get hold of, according to a National Audit Office report published today. The report also found that the DWP could improve how it checks […]
Most government departments are continuing to produce high quality accounts and are presenting them for audit in a timely fashion. However, Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, had to issue qualified opinions on seven out of 54 sets of departmental resource accounts in 2005-06, compared with two out of 54 sets in […]
The NAO review looked at what the BBC is doing to maximise the efficiency of radio production across its Network and Nations radio stations, focusing on the use of cost comparisons for similar programme types within the BBC stations and with commercial competitors, the BBC’s efficiency plans and the BBC’s assessment of the impact of efficiency initiatives on performance.
The National Audit Office’s annual report on 20 of the top defence equipment projects shows that, while there has been progress on the majority of projects in the last year, there continue to be time delays and cost increases on some of the major projects. Of the fifteen projects not in service as at April […]
£173 million was spent last year on trials and hearings in magistrates’ courts that did not go ahead as planned. Of this, nearly £24 million was due to the Crown Prosecution Service. The National Audit Office calculate that 28 per cent (784,000 annually) of all pre-trial hearings in magistrates’ courts do not proceed on the […]
Today’s report, which is the National Audit Office’s first on the preparations for London 2012, identifies six main risk areas which may impact on the Games: Delivering the Games against an immovable deadline. The need for strong governance and delivery structures given the multiplicity of organisations and groups involved in the Games. The requirement for […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that significant improvements have been made in HM Prison Service’s catering arrangements resulting in financial savings and improved quality of service. Since 2003-04, savings of some £2.5 million have been made each year from expenditure on food and some £1.7 million a year on […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that he had given an unqualified opinion on the 2005-06 Community Fund’s accounts. Last year, Sir John had qualified his opinion on the 2004-05 accounts on the grounds that the Fund’s systems did not include adequate checks to identify potential fraudulent applications. […]
An independent assessment of three Regional Development Agencies – One North East (ONE), South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) – has concluded that ONE and SEEDA are performing strongly and SWRDA is performing well. The assessments by the National Audit Office are based on five criteria: ambition, prioritisation, […]
An independent assessment of three Regional Development Agencies – One North East (ONE), South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) – has concluded that ONE and SEEDA are performing strongly and SWRDA is performing well. The assessments by the National Audit Office are based on five criteria: ambition, prioritisation, […]
The National Audit Office reported today that, four years into the 10-year NHS Cancer Plan, substantial progress has been made in meeting the Plan’s targets. The thirty-four cancer networks which have been established have achieved important improvements in delivering cancer services across England. However, the networks need to be more effective and to develop partnership […]
Too many family breakdown cases are going to court rather than being settled through mediation, the National Audit Office has today reported. Family breakdown cases which are resolved through professional mediation are cheaper and quicker to settle. And academic research shows that they secure better outcomes, particularly for children, as they are less acrimonious. However, […]
An independent assessment of three Regional Development Agencies – One North East (ONE), South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) – has concluded that ONE and SEEDA are performing strongly and SWRDA is performing well. The assessments by the National Audit Office are based on five criteria: ambition, prioritisation, […]