Grant-makers in the culture, media and sport sector fund awards of around £1.8 billion a year. The cost of administering these grants, and of related activities, is in the region of £200 million. Variations in administration costs between grant programmes reflect their differing objectives but also suggest scope for grant-makers to learn from each other […]
Delivering the National Programme for IT in the NHS is proving to be an enormous challenge. All elements of the Programme are advancing and some are complete, but the original timescales for the electronic Care Records Service, one of the central elements of the Programme, turned out to be unachievable, raised unrealistic expectations and put […]
The European Commission and Member States have made progress in strengthening the financial management of European Union funds, according to a report today from the National Audit Office. But for the thirteenth year in a row the European Court of Auditors (ECA) did not provide a positive Statement of Assurance on the legality and regularity […]
The Highways Agency successfully transferred to the private sector the risks associated with procuring a digital information system for England’s motorway network. The procurement lasted five years, however, over twice as long as the Agency originally expected, and two well qualified potential bidders dropped out during a 17 month short listing process, leaving just two […]
HM Revenue & Customs achieved a return of around £4.50 for every £1 spent on tackling the hidden economy in 2006-07 and recent campaigns to encourage people into the formal economy have achieved much higher returns. But, according to the National Audit Office, the penalties the Department imposes when it detects people in the hidden […]
We commissioned some work with two volunteer Departments in Spring 2008 to assess the measurability, relevance and costability of Departmental Strategic Objectives – with a view to informing wider guidance on integrating financial and performance management and reporting.
By being able to switch suppliers, customers have put competitive pressures on telecom, electricity, gas, and postal providers following the removal of pricing controls. Around half of energy and fixed line telecoms customers have switched supplier and 90 per cent of people doing so found it easy. There have been problems, however, particularly for more […]
UK Sport has developed a strategy to achieve the Government’s ambitions for the GB teams to finish fourth in the Olympic medal table and to maintain second in the Paralympics table at the London 2012 Games. The achievements of athletes at recent elite international events suggest performance levels are improving. The NAO’s report identifies a […]
In 2006-07, almost 800,000 incidents caused 14 million minutes of delay to rail journeys costing a minimum of £1 billion in terms of time lost to passengers, according to a report released today by the National Audit Office. There was a sharp increase in delay minutes after the Hatfield derailment in October 2000 and the […]
Many of the long standing problems in providing offenders with effective and useful learning and skills training have yet to be overcome following the establishment of the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS). Offenders who find employment upon their release are less likely to reoffend, which is why improving their training and skills could contribute […]
Holding managers to account for the resources they have been allocated is key to improving financial management at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, according to a report out today by the National Audit Office. This need has been recognised by the Department and reflected in a programme to improve its financial management, […]
Assessing the risk posed by offenders is difficult. Parole Board members rely on the Ministry of Justice, HM Prison Service and the probation service to provide the necessary information for them to make an informed decision. Determinate sentenced prisoners, though, are having their hearings on time and the Board is reducing the backlog of cases […]