Difficulties encountered by a government agency in making payments under the EU’s Single Payment Scheme have caused distress to a significant minority of farmers, cost farmers money in additional interest and bank charges, and undermined the farming industry’s confidence in the agency, according to a report published today. The study by the National Audit Office […]
This landscape report aims to help Parliament better understand the complexities of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise by describing how the Ministry of Defence needs to bring together its programmes, including production of the new deterrent submarines, to provide a continuous at sea deterrent.
This report examines whether government’s arrangements for decommissioning AGR nuclear power stations will lead to better value for money.
It is estimated that over a million social homes have been improved by the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Decent Homes Programme, which aims to improve the condition of homes for social housing tenants. The Department has also provided funding to improve conditions for vulnerable households in private sector accommodation. But the National Audit Office […]
This report provides an update on HMRC’s progress with the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) since July 2017. We consider the deliverability of the CDS programme and highlight the risks and issues HMRC needs to manage to fully implement CDS by January 2019.
HMRC has made progress in developing the new customs system, which was part of its existing programme, but it may need to be ready much earlier than originally planned if there is no agreement extending timescales on the transition to any new customs arrangements
The service provided to students applying for finance in 2009 did not achieve value for money, according to a report today by the National Audit Office. There were major problems in the processing of applications – with fewer than half new applications being fully processed by the start of term – and in communications with […]
The NAO found that the Charity Commission did not properly consider whether The Cup Trust met the key legal requirement of being within the jurisdiction of the High Court of England and Wales before registering it as a charity in 2009, and was slow in handling the case.
Major changes are being made to the criminal justice system, however much remains to be done to tackle inefficiency within the system.
This report looks at the set-up of the UK infrastructure Bank, including HM Treasury’s planning before launch.
The creation of Ofcom, the Office of Communications, was a major challenge, demanding decisive leadership and well structured project management. There were, however, no clear measures put in place at the outset to monitor whether the merger was a success. Although data is limited, the NAO has carried out a preliminary assessment which indicates that […]
The Treasury’s 2009 decision to split Northern Rock in two was reasonable at the time but the final net cost to the taxpayer could be some £2 billion.
The suspension and cancellation of a number of key armoured vehicle projects since the 1998 defence review has resulted in the Armed Forces facing a significant shortage in the principal armoured vehicles they require, until at least 2024-2025.
There has been much public discussion about the affordability of public service pensions. To inform that debate, the National Audit Office has today published a report designed to bring greater transparency to, and understanding of, the cash costs involved. Today’s report found: Total payments to more than 2 million pensioners in the UK’s four largest […]
This report looks at how much government departments spent on their activities preparing for the UK’s exit from the EU.
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the pioneering 31-year *Private Finance Initiative deal to redevelop the office accommodation of the Inland Revenue and Department of Social Security in Newcastle is likely to deliver the improved accommodation sought. This would be at a higher direct cost than continuing with […]