The Department for Education has made good progress in improving take-up and achievement in areas such as A-Level maths and GCSE Triple Science. However, there has been less success in increasing the number of science teachers, improving take-up of A-Level physics and raising the standards of school science facilities.
Improvements and efficiencies have been made in key areas of cancer care since the Cancer Reform Strategy was published. However, a lack of high quality information on costs of cancer services and their outcomes inhibits substantial further improvements.
Firebuy, established by the Department for Communities and Local Government to support procurement of kit by Fire and Rescue Services, has cost nearly twice as much to set up and run as the total savings it claims to have delivered.
Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 covering the period 2008-2011
Review of the data systems for Public Service Agreement 20 led by the Department for Communities and Local Government: ‘Increase long term housing supply and affordability’
Hospital productivity has fallen over the last ten years. There have been significant increases in funding and hospitals have used this to deliver against national priorities, but they need to provide more leadership, management and clinical engagement to optimise the use of additional resources and deliver value for money.
It is estimated that over a million social homes have been improved by the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Decent Homes Programme, which aims to improve the condition of homes for social housing tenants. The Department has also provided funding to improve conditions for vulnerable households in private sector accommodation. But the National Audit Office […]
The Department of Health’s strategy for stroke care has increased the priority and awareness of the condition and started to improve patients’ care and outcomes, concludes a report by the National Audit Office published today. Actions taken since 2006 have improved the value for money of stroke care; but improvements have not been universal and […]
Whitehall initiatives to revive former coalfield communities have helped to make them more attractive places to live and work but many remain among the most deprived areas in England and opportunities to help train local people and promote local businesses have been missed, the NAO has today reported. The regeneration effort has three strands: the […]
The Department of Health has developed an ambitious and comprehensive strategy for dementia. However, there has not yet been a robust approach to implementation, according to a National Audit Office report published today. Despite the Department stating, since 2007, that dementia is now a national priority, it has not been given the levers or urgency […]
A report today by the National Audit Office highlights the fall in the number of deaths among both pedestrians and cyclists since the mid-1990s though more remains to be done to improve their safety. The number of deaths among pedestrians has fallen by 36 per cent but Great Britain is some way behind some of […]
The use of PFI by local authorities to improve housing, usually in areas with a high need for housing and where stock condition is particularly poor, has had a measure of success. However, risks to value for money of the programme have not been managed.
The Department for Communities and Local Government has given local authorities approximately £68 million a year to improve the handling of planning applications and in particular to speed them up. While authorities are taking more decisions on major housing schemes within 13 weeks, the true extent of the improvement across the development process is not […]
In a report published today, the National Audit Office has found that the Post Office Network Change Programme has largely met its targets and complied with the undertakings given by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. However, the implementation of some of the new Outreach services, planned for 500 locations where conventional post […]
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 […]
The Department for Children, Schools and Families is achieving its aim of promoting partnering in secondary education in England, according to a report today by the National Audit Office. Some 87 per cent of schools work with other schools and organisations on improving attainment and behaviour – and headteachers are clear that partnering is delivering […]
Too many people with rheumatoid arthritis are not being diagnosed or treated quickly enough, and some services for people with the disease are not coordinated enough, according to a report published today by the National Audit Office. Delay in treatment is detrimental to patients’ health, their quality of life and, with three quarters of people […]
A £330 million programme has enhanced the 46 English Fire and Rescue Services’ capacity to respond to terrorist attacks and other catastrophic incidents such as major flooding. But better value for money could have been secured in the procurement of the specialist vehicles and equipment, according to a National Audit Office report out today. The New […]
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 Department of Health has met its target to reduce MRSA bloodstream infections by 50 per cent by 2008 and has made encouraging progress towards its target to reduce Clostridium difficile infections, according to a National Audit Office report published today. However, blood stream infections due to other causes may be increasing. There is also […]