Departments have continued to reduce their estates and government is now getting better value for money. The Government Property Unit, however, has not yet made much progress towards its more challenging objective of creating an integrated estate.
The National Audit Office and the Audit Commission have today called for public bodies to work together much more effectively than they currently do to maximise savings from procurement activities.
The preparations for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are going well overall and, despite time pressures, the Olympic Delivery Authority remains on course to deliver its construction programme.
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 […]
This paper sets out a framework for effective management of staff costs in a challenging environment of cost reduction in public services. It builds on the high level principles set out in the NAO’s short guide to structured cost reduction.
This report assesses whether the apprenticeships programme is providing value for money.
The amount of money being spent by government on external consultants has fallen slightly since 2006-07. However, government is not getting value for money from its use of consultants because it often lacks the information, skills and strategies to manage them effectively.
At a cost of £1.47 billion by March 2009, Train to Gain had supported employer-focused training for over one million learners, and had developed a skills brokerage service with which a majority of employers was satisfied. But while Train to Gain has achieved undoubted benefits for employers, the NAO has concluded that over its full […]
This investigation looks at the centralisation and performance of national security vetting services.
According to a National Audit Office report, the NHS has successfully transferred 1.1 million NHS employees on to a new simplified pay system. Given the scale of the NHS this was a substantial task which the NHS, in partnership with the trade unions, achieved in a short timescale. There are some examples of NHS trusts […]
Amyas Morse, the Comptroller and Auditor General, has today issued a report on the 2015-16 accounts of HM Revenue & Customs.
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has not achieved value for money for its £100 million spend on the second competition for government financial support for carbon capture storage.
Devolution deals to devolve power from central government to local areas in England offer opportunities to stimulate economic growth and reform public services for local users, but the arrangements are untested and government could do more to provide confidence that these deals will achieve the benefits intended
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 […]
This report focuses on the arrangements for converting schools to academies. We assess the Department for Education’s approach and the extent of conversion; the robustness, cost and speed of the conversion process; and the availability of sponsors and multi-academy trusts to support schools to convert to academies.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Warm Front Scheme to tackle fuel poverty in England helped to improve the energy efficiency of over 635,000 households between June 2005 and March 2008. According to a report by the National Audit Office there were, however, 1.9 million vulnerable households in 2006, so this rate of progress […]
The MOD have been unable to provide evidence to support the existence and value of certain assets and inventory balances. In addition, the Department’s accounting policies are not fully compliant with International Financial Reporting Standards.
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.
A report on the BBC’s progress to date in delivering efficiency savings required by the BBC Trust following the 2007 licence fee settlement.
The Ministry of Justice has made progress in improving its financial management, but currently falls short of best practice in the consistency of its financial management approach, its understanding of its costs and the integration of its financial management systems and processes.