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Posts tagged: "Local government"
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Posted on March 22, 2018 by Michael Burke
Would you be willing to pay more tax to fund care? What about paying more towards your own or your parents’ care in old-age or if you find yourself in need of disabled care? What quality of care would you expect? Are you an unpaid carer yourself? Compromises may be needed in the funding and delivery of social care in light of the combined pressures of cuts in the budgets of local governments, which spend £14.8 billion funding the care, and the high vacancy and turnover rates in the adult social care sector. Our recent reports highlight the scale of the challenges facing the government as it plans for the future. more… The social care challengeTagged: Children, Disability, Elderly, Employee engagement, Financial sustainability, Health, Local government, Public finances, Skills, Social care
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Posted on January 26, 2018 by Matthew Wilkins
On 25th January, the government published its annual rough sleeper count, and confirmed what is already apparent to anybody who spends time on the streets of towns and cities in England: homelessness in its most visible form has increased substantially in recent years. Beyond the headline-grabbing rough sleeping figures, what do the numbers really tell us about what is happening with homelessness in England, and how can government achieve its aim of eliminating rough sleeping by 2027? more… What’s behind the growing number of rough sleepers?Tagged: Cross-government, Homelessness, Housing, Local government, Young people
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Posted on January 12, 2018 by Aileen Murphie
A third of people living in England outside London live in one of England’s nine combined authorities, six being cities with directly elected mayors. Some commentators have expressed disappointment that the recent Secretary of State’s Annual Report on Devolution 2016-17 confirmed that there were no further devolution agreements in 2016-17. With combined authorities intended to be a key driver of local growth, should people, both in these regions and especially in areas without a combined authority, be clamouring for more action on devolution, or should we wait for clarity about the UK’s exit from the EU? What it will take for combined authorities to succeed in their aims? And do elected mayors have the potential to become significant figures on the national political stage? more… Growth through devolution: A New Year’s outlookTagged: Access to services, Accountability, Brexit, Collaboration, Customer service, Devolution, Growth, Housing, Leadership, Local government, Police, Public sector reform
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Posted on December 11, 2017 by Abdool Kara
From working on the frontline of homelessness to contributing to the PAC session on the NAO’s homelessness report, former Chief Executive of Swale Borough Council, Abdool Kara, reflects on his first nine months as an Executive Leader at the NAO. more… Leading with experienceTagged: Amyas Morse, Health, Homelessness, Leadership, Local government, PAC, Young people
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Posted on August 18, 2017 by Jacob Holliday
High profile incidents remind individuals and organisations just how important it is to manage potential conflicts of interest. In March 2017, the Court of the Bank of England commissioned a review of the institution’s approach to managing conflicts of interest. The review was prompted by the resignation of Charlotte Hogg who had been Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking. A report from the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee published in March 2017 had raised concerns about her compliance with the Bank’s rules governing conflicts of interest. As part of its Review the Bank invited the NAO to contribute a briefing paper on managing conflicts of interest. It’s a timely opportunity for the whole public sector to consider whether it’s managing conflicts of interest effectively. more… Managing conflicts of interest and keeping public trustTagged: Accountability, Business operations, Conflict of interest, Contract management, Cross-government, Employee engagement, Good practice principles, International, Investigations, Local government, Regulation & consumer protection, Reporting, Risk management
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Posted on July 7, 2017 by Lee Summerfield
MPs have queried the way grants are distributed; multiple programme changes have left many questioning aims and effectiveness; growing backlogs have raised issues about public service delivery; and failed contracts losing millions of pounds have implied serious mismanagement. Concerns raised by MPs, members of the public and our own staff as a result of their work often need the facts set out – clearly and quickly. They call for an NAO ‘Investigation’. more… NAO InvestigatesTagged: Accountability, Business operations, Contract management, International, Investigations, Local government, Performance management, Project management, Public finances
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Posted on April 27, 2017 by Administrator
The NAO Blog must take a break in the period before the General Election. Meanwhile, we would like to highlight our interactive guide to Good practice from the ‘Excellence in Reporting’ in the Public Sector Award, sponsored by the NAO and part of the wider PwC-sponsored Building Public Trust in Corporate Reporting Awards. Kate Mathers, one of our Executive Leaders, sits on the judging panel for the public sector awards. We set out below the criteria for which we looked. Our publication provides examples of good practice from the 50 reports we reviewed. more… Excellence in Public Sector Reporting and the Election breakTagged: Accountability, Cross-government, Good practice principles, Impacts, Information management, International, Local government, Performance management, Public finances, Reporting
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Posted on April 7, 2017 by Emma Willson
When it comes to public sector contracts, running proper competitions simply isn’t enough. Government needs to act intelligently to take advantage of competition between potential suppliers, weighing up options and considering who carries the risks, and at what cost. Since launching Commercial and contract management – insights and emerging best practice we’ve reported on two contracts that shed further light on these issues. We explore the new insights from these reports in this blog-post, the latest in our series on key issues for contracts and commercial relationships. more… Intelligent contract competition and risk managementTagged: Contract insights series, Contract management, Cross-government, Forecasting, Good practice principles, International, Local government, Performance management, Project management, Public finances, Risk management
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Posted on March 30, 2017 by Bob Shambler
Mark Felt’s exposure of the Watergate scandal brought down President Nixon; Julie Bailey’s campaign led to the investigation into the failings of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust; Sherron Watkins’ exposure of the Enron scandal led to wider questioning of US company accounting practices and contributed to new accounting and accountability laws. Whistleblowing plays a crucial role in transparency, provides a highly valuable early warning system for organisations and drives a wide range of improvements. Would you know how to whistleblow? Would you feel safe from reprisal? The NAO has put out a series of reports on whistleblowing, and I recently drew on these to share the UK’s experience of whistleblowing arrangements at a Mexican conference on international best practice. more… Whistleblowing good practiceTagged: Accountability, Amyas Morse, Cross-government, Local government, Performance management, Regulation & consumer protection, Whistleblowing
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Posted on March 6, 2017 by Amyas Morse
I was privileged to speak to The Strand Group at King’s College London in early February on some of the elements needed for government to successfully implement major change programmes in complex, interconnected systems. The examples on which I focused were local, adult social care and NHS services in light of devolution, fiscal restraint and Brexit. After my talk, I was asked many interesting questions, some of which I would like to explore in more detail in this post. [See here for the video and transcript.] more… A flexible, engaged approach to efficient public servicesTagged: Amyas Morse, Brexit, Customer service, Devolution, Financial sustainability, Local government, Performance management, Public finances, Public sector reform
What’s behind the growing number of rough sleepers?
Growth through devolution: A New Year’s outlook
Managing conflicts of interest and keeping public trust
Excellence in Public Sector Reporting and the Election break
Intelligent contract competition and risk management
A flexible, engaged approach to efficient public services
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