The Highways Agency’s PFI contract to widen the M25 could have been better value for money. The slowness with which it was taken forward resulted in higher financing costs, and the Agency was slow to investigate a potentially cheaper alternative to widening.
Despite the fact that the Defra has made improvements in its financial management, the NAO cannot yet conclude that the Department is achieving value for money in its financial management activity.
This report assesses how well pupils with special educational needs and disabilities are being supported.
More could be done to manage the risk of a reduction in the value of EU funds to the UK in the event of a depreciation in the euro.
This review examines whether the Department for Transport has in place suitable arrangements to secure value for money from Regional Funding Allocation Programme investment.
In this report we outline what HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s (HMCTS) change portfolio to modernise and upgrade the justice system will deliver, consider early progress against plans and explore how HMCTS and its partners have managed the change portfolio and the risks it faces in the future.
A briefing on the rationale, costs and benefits of the Private Finance Initiative; the use of and impact of PFI, and ability to make savings from operational contracts; and the introduction of PF2. There are currently over 700 operational PFI and PF2 deals, with a capital value of around £60 billion and annual charges for these deals amounted to £10.3 billion in 2016-17. Even if no new deals are entered into, future charges which continue until the 2040s amount to £199 billion.
18 January 2018
The Ministry of Defence, under pressure to make rapid financial savings, is significantly reducing the size of its workforce, by over 54,000 personnel. A report today by the National Audit Office has found that these reductions are happening in advance of the Department’s fully understanding how it will operate with significantly fewer staff.
Investment of £110bn in electricity infrastructure is needed by 2020 to meet increase in demand, to provide back-up capacity, and because of scheduled closure of one fifth of existing capacity.
The progress made by a programme to modernise the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Amyas Morse, the Comptroller and Auditor General, has today issued a report on the 2016-17 accounts of HM Revenue & Customs.
Plans to reorganize central government will bring a range of functions closer to ministers, and the Cabinet Office and departments are on course to deliver cost reductions. However, departments do not have a good enough grasp of the one-off costs of the reorganisation or, secondly, of the ongoing costs of continuing to provide the transferred functions.
The Olympic Delivery Authority remains on course to deliver its work on the Olympic Park successfully. But almost all of the Public Sector Funding Package is likely to be required, with little scope for unforeseen costs to emerge in the eight months left.
The project to replace the 46 Fire and Rescue Services’ local control rooms across England with nine purpose-built regional control centres linked by a new IT system has been a comprehensive failure, according to the National Audit Office. The Department for Communities and Local Government acted to cut its losses by terminating the contract in […]
The head of the National Audit Office, the Comptroller and Auditor General, has today qualified the accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions for the 20th consecutive year. The accounts have been qualified because of the material level of fraud and error in expenditure on state benefits, except for State Pension which has a […]
Giving greater responsibility and discretion to local authorities to identify flood risk and target investment raises significant challenges, especially during a time of budget cuts and other newly devolved responsibilities. Greater value for money can be achieved through these reforms, but key elements of what is required are not yet in place.
Course outcomes for young people aged 16-25 receiving special educational support are improving. However, a lack of understanding of the relationship between needs, costs and outcomes can lead to students not getting the right support, and risks compromising value for money.
The NAO’s assessment of the maturity of process management in central government identifies areas of strength and opportunities to improve.
The welfare cap is encouraging a greater understanding of spending on some benefits and tax credits across government, but it is important that processes for managing the cap are reliable.
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 […]