The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has not achieved value for money for its £100 million spend on the second competition for government financial support for carbon capture storage.
Insights we have drawn from exploratory analysis of data used by the Environment Agency as part of its regulation of storm overflows.
The case for a huge expansion of electronic monitoring using GPS was unproven, but the Ministry of Justice pursued an overly ambitious and high risk strategy anyway. Ultimately it has not delivered.
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.
It is not possible to show that the Crown Commercial Service has achieved more than departments would otherwise have achieved by buying common goods and services themselves.
Digital transformation has a mixed track record across government. It has not yet provided a level of change that will allow government to further reduce costs while still meeting people’s needs.
Challenging objectives for improving access to general practice have been set by the Department and NHS England, but a more coordinated approach and stronger incentives are needed.
The Department has committed electricity consumers and taxpayers to a high cost and risky deal in a changing energy marketplace. We cannot say the Department has maximised the chances that it will achieve value for money.
In our ever-increasing digital and automatized world, certain buzzwords are becoming more centre stage in the public sector. One of them is “artificial intelligence”. While the concept, and development, of artificial intelligence is not new (artificial intelligence was first recognised as a formal discipline in the mid-1950s), it is a word that has been casually […]
A plan by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills to reduce complexity and administrative burdens in the further education and skills sector, despite improving some processes, has had only limited impact on providers’ costs.
In March 2013, the Minister for Consumer Affairs, along with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, confirmed in a statement in the House of Commons that the government has drawn on our analysis as it develops a new regulatory regime for consumer credit markets.
This NAO impacts case study represents one example where there has been some beneficial change, whether financial or non-financial, resulting from our involvement.
The NAO, the Better Regulation Executive (BRE) and the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO), both part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have published a survey looking at businesses’ perceptions of regulation.
This memorandum has been prepared to support the Committee of Public Accounts’ consideration of the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD’s) provision of accommodation to its service personnel.
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.
This is an investigation into the contractual arrangements that UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) had in place since 2013-14 for the outsourcing of sector specialist services with PA Consulting. PA received £18.8million in the first year of a contract due to last three years. Following concerns about the way the contract had been priced UKTI terminated the contract in January 2016 and agreed a commercial settlement with PA in May 2016.
The Better Regulation Executive is currently reviewing controls on regulation. This document is the National Audit Office’s submission to that review. It is based on a combination of our previous work and new work with five case study departments earlier this year.
Achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions will be a colossal challenge for the UK and one that will require all parts of government to work together. The NAO has audited numerous cross-government projects and programmes in the past, ranging from the 2012 Olympics to preparations for EU Exit. This experience has given us a deep […]
Regulation of the consumer credit market is providing benefits to consumers, but is not minimizing consumer harm from unscrupulous trading practices.
Over 10 million people who used public services (about 1 in 5) in the UK last year faced problems with the services. Detriment can and does occur. But users find the complaints and redress systems confusing.
We investigated the Ministry of Defence’s progress with submarine disposal and in implementing the projects needed to make this work.