The Department for International Development’s programme in Malawi has contributed to poverty reduction, improved health outcomes, larger harvests and more effective governance in the country, according to a report by the National Audit Office. It is difficult, however, to gauge how much of this progress can be attributed directly to DFID’s aid. Progress has been […]
The head of the National Audit Office, the Comptroller and Auditor General, has today qualified the accounts of the Legal Services Commission for 2008-09 because of overpayments made by the Commission to solicitors, estimated at almost £25 million.
Older people are a growing group for HM Revenue & Customs and significant numbers pay too much or too little tax, according to a report released today by the National Audit Office. Errors occur because many people’s tax affairs become more complicated when they reach pension age and HMRC’s systems do not cope well with […]
A survey of businesses by the National Audit Office found that, whilst businesses are reporting that individual aspects of complying with regulation have become less burdensome over the last year, and there has been some improvement in overall business perceptions of regulation since 2007, very few regard complying with regulation as having become easier or […]
Despite a small improvement in the quality of the data systems used by government departments to monitor their progress against their Public Service Agreements (PSAs), there are still many areas for improvement – with 11 per cent of systems rated red, according to a report by the National Audit Office. Good quality data systems enable […]
Central government could improve its day to day cash management and reduce the amount of interest it pays on debt if its departments and their sponsored bodies held less money in commercial bank accounts. Today’s report to Parliament by the National Audit Office recommends that these organisations instead use the Exchequer as their main banking […]
Since the introduction of a new type of maintenance contract in 2001 by the Highways Agency there have been some improvements in the quality and delivery to budget of maintenance on England’s motorways and trunk roads. However, according to a report by the National Audit Office, costs have risen, with those for routine maintenance increasing […]
The Rural Payments Agency and DEFRA have shown scant regard to protecting public money in their administration and management of the EU’s Single Payment Scheme in England, according to the National Audit Office. The IT system does not meet the scheme’s needs, the cost of processing claims, already very high, has continued to increase and […]
This report examines how PFI performs to contracted timetable and to price.
Executive Summary
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) met only one of its three targets to reach new audiences by increasing the number of people from underrepresented groups who visit the historic environment by 2007-08. The targets were challenging and DCMS and English Heritage had limited levers to influence more people to visit historic sites. […]
At a cost of £1.47 billion by March 2009, Train to Gain had supported employer-focused training for over one million learners, and had developed a skills brokerage service with which a majority of employers was satisfied. But while Train to Gain has achieved undoubted benefits for employers, the NAO has concluded that over its full […]
The Comptroller and Auditor General has qualified the accounts of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) because the EHRC re-engaged, without Treasury authority, seven former senior employees of the former Commission for Racial Equality who had left that body under a voluntary early severance scheme. The EHRC, established in April 2006 and operational from […]
The head of the National Audit Office, the Comptroller and Auditor General, has today qualified the accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions for the 20th consecutive year. The accounts have been qualified because of the material level of fraud and error in expenditure on state benefits, except for State Pension which has a […]
The Comptroller and Auditor General, the head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament that he has qualified his audit opinion on HM Treasury’s Resource Accounts for 2008-09. This was because, in that year, HM Treasury incurred expenditure of some £24 billion more than Parliament had authorized. This arose because of the need […]
The National Audit Office has identified errors in specialist pay, allowances and expenses paid to the Armed Forces via their Payroll and Human Resources system, as well as the inadequacy of evidence to support certain fixed assets and stock balances in the financial statements. For this reason, the Comptroller and Auditor General has qualified his […]
The economic downturn has been largely responsible for a £21.7 billion reduction in taxes and duties collected by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in 2008-9, according to a report released today by the National Audit Office. Income Tax and National Insurance contributions fell by £5.7 billion; revenue from VAT fell by £6.4 billion (partly reflecting […]
A review by the National Audit Office of overpayments to public service pensioners totalling £90 million has found a complex and fragmented administrative process, prone to error, and for which there is no clear overall responsibility. The process requires effective joint working between the parties involved (the five public service pension schemes, HM Revenue and […]
The Department for Communities and Local Government has shown commitment to financial leadership and governance and has improved its financial management over the last couple of years. However, there is more to do for the department to embed good financial management throughout the department and to improve the financial and business management skills of its […]