Cloud services’ can bring cost and performance benefits. But they can also bring new challenges and risks. To help leaders oversee decision-making and implementation of cloud services, we recently published ‘Guidance for audit committees on cloud services’. The magazine, Public Sector Executive, invited us to outline the issues in the article The National Audit Office’s guide […]
2nd edition, January 2012
We have pulled together practical top tips for Audit Committees from the good practice shared in facilitated, syndicated-based workshops in the past and from other meetings with non-executive directors.
This report examines how far the Ministry of Defence has embedded environmental sustainability in estate management, procurement, governance and policy-making.
This briefing, prepared for the Environmental Audit Committee, provides an update on the quality of sustainability reporting by central government departments. It includes a review of current and planned requirements.
This briefing on the NHS and sustainability in England has been prepared for the Environmental Audit Committee. It focuses on identifying potential good practice, opportunities and challenges and draws on the NAO’s good practice criteria.
Our study evaluates how far the government has an effective system for measuring progress towards its environmental objectives.
This briefing responds to a request from the Environmental Audit Committee to review sustainability within the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
The Statement on Internal Control (SIC) is a public accountability document that describes the effectiveness of internal controls in an organisation and is personally signed by the Accounting Officer.
COVID-19 is affecting us all. The way we live, work and socialise has changed dramatically. The National Audit Office is no different, our staff are working from home and we will also have an important role to play in reporting on the government’s response to COVID-19. We’re resharing some of our knowledge on how organisations […]
This briefing responds to a request from the Environmental Audit Committee to review sustainability at the Home Office. It follows a similar format to our report on sustainability at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and thus covers all aspects of the Department’s activities: governance, policy, operations and procurement.
This report identifies lessons from the management and performance of the packaging recycling obligation system.
The briefing gives a factual overview of the framework for environmental compliance and enforcement in England.
Insights we have drawn from exploratory analysis of data used by the Environment Agency as part of its regulation of storm overflows.
This Fact Sheet highlights areas of good practice in preparing Whole of Government Accounts returns, including what should be provided to external auditors. It may also be used by audit committees as part of their governance arrangements over financial reporting.
This new report responds to a request from the Environmental Audit Committee to examine local government and net zero.
We have prepared this guide to help accounting officers, other senior leaders and policymakers understand how the NAO assesses the robustness of the evaluation arrangements in departments.
This impacts case study shows how our investigation highlighted risks in stewardship over the use of public funds by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), which led PHSO to develop an action plan to improve procurement policy, practice and effectiveness.
It is one example of financial or non-financial benefits realised in 2014 as a result of our involvement, all of which are set out in our interactive PDF.
The National Audit Office has prepared this briefing on environmental protection for the new members of the Environmental Audit Committee
“The world is now living through climate change, not watching it draw near” is the stark warning delivered by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), in its sixth assessment report (AR6). In risk speak, high-impact, low-likelihood events will become more likely with higher temperatures. With COP 26 fast approaching and extreme weather events becoming […]
The NAO’s governance arrangements ensure that we operate effectively and transparently with due oversight while maintaining our independence.