This report is a factual update to support the Committee of Public Accounts’ evidence session on the government’s Troubled Families programme on 19 October 2016. It is based primarily on published sources, information supplied by the Department for Communities and Local Government and previous reports published by the National Audit Office.
The government has missed opportunities to exploit the full potential of the Levy Control Framework and this has contributed to decisions which have not secured value for money.
The Department for Education recognised since 2010 that child protection services are not good enough but its subsequent response has not yet resulted in better outcomes. Spending on children’s social work, including on child protection, varies widely across England and is not related to quality. Neither the DfE nor authorities understand why spending varies.
The Department for Transport agreed to make a £30m grant towards construction of the Garden Bridge despite its concerns over value for money. The NAO’s review does not assess the value for money of the project as a whole.
The Emergency Services Network is one of the most technologically advanced systems worldwide and is set to replace the existing emergency services communication system, Airwave. However several risks have been highlighted.
Protecting information while re-designing public services and introducing the technology necessary to support them is an increasingly complex challenge.
UK Government says it is on track to meet target to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020. Local authorities’ ability to secure suitable school places and houses a risk to success. NAO estimate programme will cost £1.12bn by 2020.
This document summarises the findings of our work and identifies sources of help that may be useful to local areas and government departments supporting local public service reform.
The Department for Education should set out the planned overall impact of the programme on productivity and growth.
This interactive briefing pack summarises the National Audit Office’s work in the police and fire sectors since 2012. It highlights the key messages coming from a selection of our recent reports and should be of interest to Police and Crime Commissioners and their officers, senior police and fire officials and the general public.
There have been improvements in the way government plans and manages public sector activity, but the NAO does not consider that there exists a coherent, enduring framework for planning and management.
This report is published alongside ‘Spending Review 2015’.
There have been improvements in the way government plans and manages public sector activity, but the NAO does not consider that there exists a coherent, enduring framework for planning and management.
This report is published alongside ‘Government’s management of its performance: progress with single departmental plans’.
This briefing responds to a request from the Environmental Audit Committee that we review how the 2015 spending review took account of environmental issues.
The disposal of former Northern Rock mortgages and loans in 2015 was the government’s largest ever financial asset sale. When judged against the Government’s objective to shrink the balance sheet swiftly the deal was value for money.
In December 2015 a five year contract, worth around £800 million between UnitingCare Partnership and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough clinical commissioning group collapsed after only 8 months because it ran into financial difficulties. NAO examined the design, procurement and operation of the contract and the events that led to its termination.
This report looks at some of the main electricity system challenges the UK faces in the next two decades, and the aims and responsibilities of the Department of Energy & Climate Change.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has made progress in setting up its new programme to release enough public sector land for 160,000 homes by 2020 but the programme has had a relatively slow start.
The NAO has published its investigation into misuse of the Flexible Support Fund in Plaistow jobcentre. The report looks at how the Department for Work & Pensions responded to allegations of misuse at the jobcentre.
It is important that the services for vulnerable people at the Yarls Wood Immigration Removal Centre are delivered ‘right first time’ and this did not happen here. Steps are now being taken to address the problems but 35% of the recommendations from Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons’ 2015 inspection have not yet been implemented.
There is no collective understanding of what type of oversight is appropriate and cost effective for different types of arm’s length bodies.