The Environment Agency’s approach to tackling diffuse water pollution, such as run-off from agricultural land, has not, to date, proved value for money. The development of River Basin Management Plans now offers an opportunity to target work by the Agency and others to tackle this complex problem.
This short guide is one of 17 we have produced covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the Department for Energy and Climate Change during the last Parliament.
Government funding for renewable energy technologies has delivered innovation and increased supply. However, co-ordination has historically been limited and the absence of a consistent approach to measuring the impact of this support means overall value for money cannot be demonstrated.
DEFRA has delivered some value from the £39.3 million spent on its geographic information strategy and activities. However, a lack of financial information means that the NAO cannot determine that value for money has been achieved.
This short guide is one of 17 we have produced covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs during the last Parliament.
This is a collaborative report between the National Audit Office in England, the Algemene Rekenkamer (Netherlands Court of Audit) and the Riksrevisionsverket (Swedish National Audit Office). This exercise compares the results from their three separate reports on the administration of the arable payments scheme where, under the Common Agricultural Policy, the underlying regulations are the same in all European Union countries.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has qualified his audit opinion on the 2009-10 accounts of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the grounds of regularity.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Natural England have not optimised value for money for the almost £200 million scheme to encourage farmers into organic farming and deliver environmental benefits, according to a National Audit Office report published today. The Organic Entry Level Stewardship scheme is overseen by the Department and run […]
A National Audit Office report has found that government has strengthened its drive to purchase more environmentally sustainable goods and services. In 2005 the government set a target to be recognised by 2009 as one of the leaders in the EU in sustainable procurement. However a number of departments are not yet on course to […]
This report evaluates whether Defra’s management of new tree-planting schemes is likely to achieve value for money.
The Carbon Trust helped UK businesses and public sector organisations reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by up to an estimated two million tonnes in 2006-07 according to a report out today by the National Audit Office. And its support of emerging low carbon technologies could lead to further sizeable reductions in the future. The Carbon […]
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has successfully tackled recent outbreaks of Avian Influenza and Foot and Mouth Disease in livestock, concludes a National Audit Office report today. But in regions where diseases or parasites have become well established within the country, such as Bovine Tuberculosis affecting cattle or the Varroa mite affecting […]
Increased spending has been accompanied by an improvement in the condition of England’s Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), according to a report released today by the National Audit Office. The assessment of the condition of SSSIs, however, has fallen behind and there is a risk that Natural England is not detecting all sites that […]
This report examines the recent exit of energy suppliers from the market and government’s role in managing the exits.
This report examines government’s progress in tackling local breaches of NO2 limits and its performance on air quality more broadly.
This report examines if government is achieving its ambition for the public sector to be a leader in decarbonising its activities.
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 National Audit Office has prepared this briefing on environmental protection for the Environmental Audit Committee. It is a follow up to the environmental protection briefing which the NAO prepared for the Committee in August 2010, and focusses on the progress made by the government in this area since 2010.