Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that the seven operational PFI prisons are bringing benefits to the Prison Service. One of the key benefits is that the existence of PFI prisons has encouraged the public sector to improve its performance. For instance, Prison Service management teams have recently […]
Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that single Community Programme funding is leading to greater involvement of deprived communities in influencing local decisions but more needs to be done to reach all sectors and groups. Thanks to simple and straightforward grant application procedures the Programme has been successful […]
The Medicines Control Agency (MCA) has a good track record, nationally and internationally, in protecting public health and in ensuring that medicines are in general safe, of good quality and effective if used properly. But, according to a National Audit Office report, it needs to do more to improve the quality of information and advice […]
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn has reported to Parliament on the financial management of European Union funds. Today’s report highlights the main findings of the latest Annual Report by the European Court of Auditors (November 2002) which covers the management of the General Budget of the European Union for 2001. The […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament on the work of HM Customs and Excise in collecting gambling duties. Sir John reported that the Department collected £1,530 million in gambling duties in 1998-99, some 22 per cent of the £7 billion spent on gambling in the United Kingdom. The […]
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn today reported that he had qualified his audit opinion on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority accounts for the second year running. Legal restrictions had again prevented him from being able to verify the amount of licence fee income due from clinics but not invoiced by […]
Water and sewerage companies have taken action to remove the risk of sewer flooding from 3,300 properties in England and Wales since 2000. Ofwat has played an important role in achieving this reduction, according to a report published today by Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office. However, Ofwat and companies face a […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reporting today on the Major Projects Report 2002, told Parliament that the Ministry of Defence is showing a continued improvement in overall performance but that maintaining this will be the challenge. There are also encouraging signs that Smart Acquisition is resulting in innovative programme design and […]
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn today reported to Parliament on the financial management of European Union funds. Today’s report highlights the main findings of the latest Annual Report by the European Court of Auditors, which was published in November 2001 and covered the management of the General Budget of the European […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the Private Finance Initiative deal for the new British Embassy in Berlin is likely to provide a suitable building at a price slightly lower than a comparable conventional procurement. The contract provides for the construction of a new Embassy building and its […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that the financial analysis* carried out for the London Underground Public Private Partnerships cannot, on its own, be expected to show clearly which public or private sector option for managing and funding the Tube will provide better value for money. Sir John […]
Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the British Library is responding well to the opportunities and challenges of providing services in the electronic era, that the Library has undergone significant and beneficial organisational change, and that it has made important recent improvements to the services that it offers […]
The Inland Revenue face real threats of fraud and continued efforts are required to tackle the problem, according to a National Audit Office report to Parliament published today. It is important that the Revenue have a clear view of the resources and approaches they are going to use to tackle those risks. They should increase […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that GCHQs new headquarter building, which will cost GCHQ about 46 million a year, and which was procured through a PFI deal, was on track to be delivered on time and within its finally determined budget; and it was handled well overall. […]
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn reported to Parliament today that, while there have been real improvements in the management of health and safety risks to staff in NHS trusts, progress overall is patchy. The number of reported accidents is increasing, the gap between the best and worst performing trusts is widening […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority (SSRA) and its predecessor organisation, the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF), had taken action where possible to remedy underperformance by passenger train operators but that the present franchise arrangements could be improved to secure better performance. […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reporting today on the implementation of Integrated Project Teams1 (IPTs) by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told Parliament that the teams had been introduced rapidly and successfully but needed to evolve further. He also reported that firm direction was now needed from the MoD to maintain […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that the Government is on course to achieve a significant increase in the level of electricity generated from renewable sources – as part of its response to global warming – but a number of challenges remain to achieving its 10 per cent target for […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office (NAO), reported today that substantial improvements are needed in the way government departments provide funding to Third Sector Organisations (TSOs) to deliver public services. A 2002 Treasury Review made numerous recommendations aimed at improving funding practices relating to TSOs. These recommendations have in the main been […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today the results of his independent review of the Home Office’s quarterly asylum statistics published alongside this report. This work was carried out by the NAO in response to an invitation from the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office in April 2004 to: Assess the […]