This briefing was prepared for the Environmental Audit Committee. It reviews central government compliance with the mandatory sustainability reporting requirements for 2011-12 Annual Reports and Accounts, and sets the findings in the context of public and private sector reporting developments.
This report examines the strategic management of the Environmental Land Management scheme.
This new report responds to a request from the Environmental Audit Committee to examine local government and net zero.
The decline in quality of urban green space in England – including urban squares, parks, green corridors and nature reserves – has been halted in most areas and there are signs of recovery in many places. According to today’s report to Parliament by head of the National Audit Office, Sir John Bourn, initiatives led by […]
This report examines how well the government has used public money to support the uptake of ultra-low emission cars.
The UK is committed, under the Climate Change Act 2008, to cutting carbon
emissions by at least 34 per cent by 2020 and by at least 80 per cent by 2050
compared to a 1990 baseline.
The National Audit Office has reported today that Government departments and local health and social care organisations do not have enough information on numbers of adults with autism. They also lack a full understanding and awareness of the condition, limiting their ability to plan and deliver services effectively. Autism, which includes Asperger syndrome, is a […]
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 […]
This briefing was prepared for the Environmental Audit Committee. It gives a high-level landscape overview of options appraisal processes across government, with a focus on incorporating environmental and social factors.
Jobcentre Plus personal advisers provide an effective and highly valued service in helping people looking for work. There are over 9,000 personal advisers who conducted 10.8 million interviews last year with people looking for work. The feedback from those they help is positive and suggests they are an effective method of support in helping people […]
This briefing has been prepared for the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee, to inform their discussion of potential inquiries on nuclear energy. On 27 April 2012 the Committee launched an inquiry into Building New Nuclear: The Challenges Ahead.
The Rural Payments Agency has made good progress, but still has more to do to resolve all the problems it experienced in administering the 2005 EU single payment scheme to farmers in England, according to a report by the National Audit Office. It succeeded in meeting the June 2007 deadline for paying claims under the […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that while the Environment Agency provides well-managed and professional water resource management services there is scope to improve efficiency and realise net savings of some £450,000 a year on its activities in England, with a further potential saving of between £1 million to £2 […]
This report evaluates whether government’s approach to managing the risks of flooding and coastal erosion is achieving value for money.
This briefing was prepared in response to a request from the Energy and Climate Change Committee for an independent overview of the development and implementation of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has recently made considerable progress in increasing the number and size of local authority projects to procure new waste treatment facilities under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). But, according to a National Audit Office report today, the Department was initially too slow to respond to the 1999 […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today on the support provided by the Department of Trade and Industry to the restructuring of British Energy completed in January 2005; and the Department’s management of the risks to the taxpayer arising from the Company’s activities since the completion of restructuring. The Company was […]
This report sets out the landscape of oil and gas decommissioning.