The cost of modernising the Great Western railway is estimated to be £5.58 billion, an increase of £2.1 billion since 2013, and there are delays to the electrification of the route of at least 18 to 36 months. The Department for Transport and Network Rail have begun to improve the management of the programme but they have more to do to protect value for money in the future.
Overall spending on discretionary local welfare support by central and local government has reduced since April 2013. The consequences of this gap in provision are not understood.
A series of lessons and recommendations for tackling fraud and protecting propriety when spending public money during a national emergency.
Demand for ambulance services continues to grow rapidly, but services are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with rising demand.
The need for housing in England has in recent years grown faster than its supply, and housebuilding needs to increase across the country.
The exact scale of fraud within government is unknown. The quality and completeness of fraud data is often variable.
Schools, especially secondary schools, face real challenges in retaining and developing their teachers. National data suggest progress but mask significant local variation.
This interactive publication summarises examples of ways our work has led to financial and non-financial impacts.
The Government has committed £933 million from the Libor Fund, but cannot yet confirm that all the money has been used as intended.
The case for a huge expansion of electronic monitoring using GPS was unproven, but the Ministry of Justice pursued an overly ambitious and high risk strategy anyway. Ultimately it has not delivered.
The government continues to lose large amounts of money through fraud and error overpayments and many vulnerable people get less support than they are entitled to.
Used appropriately, GPC can be a cost-effective way for government to procure goods and services. However, there is no up to date value-for-money case quantifying the benefits of the cards. There has also been a lack of clear central guidance on when the cards are the most appropriate way to procure goods and services.
This report examines government’s management of the Affordable Homes Programme since 2015.
The Department for Work and Pensions has introduced the Work Programme quickly, in just over a year, and this has had benefits, but the speed with which it was launched has also increased risks. The Department and providers have made assumptions about how many people the Programme will get back into work but there is a significant risk that they are over-optimistic.
The MoD’s new regulations for overseeing non-competitive procurement has the potential to save significant sums of money, if implemented properly.
The Better Care Fund has not achieved the expected value for money, in terms of savings, outcomes for patients or hospital activity.
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.
Report summarising the National Audit Office’s (NAO) investigation into the provision of supported housing in England
It is not possible to show that the Crown Commercial Service has achieved more than departments would otherwise have achieved by buying common goods and services themselves.
This investigation examines the British Steel Pension Scheme.