The cost of modernising the Great Western railway is estimated to be £5.58 billion, an increase of £2.1 billion since 2013, and there are delays to the electrification of the route of at least 18 to 36 months. The Department for Transport and Network Rail have begun to improve the management of the programme but they have more to do to protect value for money in the future.
The Department for Work and Pensions successfully managed the introduction of the new state pension, but it is not yet clear whether the simplified system will encourage people to save more for their retirement.
HMRC has a special unit to collect tax from high net worth individuals who are those with assets of £20m or more. While this special unit gives it a better understanding of the tax affairs and behaviours of these taxpayers it needs to evaluate what approaches are the most effective and to understand the outcome it achieves.
The amount recovered has increased but NHS hospital trusts remain some way from complying in full with the requirement to recover the cost of treating overseas visitors.
This investigation focuses on how the Department for Education identified and managed a potential conflict of interest between the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families and a company called Morning Lane Associates.
This an update on earlier reports by the NAO and Committee of Public Accounts on the progress of the Common Agricultural Policy Delivery Programme. It focuses primarily on the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme payments to English farmers and landowners and improvements to the process for the 2016 and future years.
This report is a factual update to support the Committee of Public Accounts’ evidence session on the government’s Troubled Families programme on 19 October 2016. It is based primarily on published sources, information supplied by the Department for Communities and Local Government and previous reports published by the National Audit Office.
The government has missed opportunities to exploit the full potential of the Levy Control Framework and this has contributed to decisions which have not secured value for money.
The Department for Education recognised since 2010 that child protection services are not good enough but its subsequent response has not yet resulted in better outcomes. Spending on children’s social work, including on child protection, varies widely across England and is not related to quality. Neither the DfE nor authorities understand why spending varies.
The Department for Transport agreed to make a £30m grant towards construction of the Garden Bridge despite its concerns over value for money. The NAO’s review does not assess the value for money of the project as a whole.
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.
Protecting information while re-designing public services and introducing the technology necessary to support them is an increasingly complex challenge.
UK Government says it is on track to meet target to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020. Local authorities’ ability to secure suitable school places and houses a risk to success. NAO estimate programme will cost £1.12bn by 2020.
This document summarises the findings of our work and identifies sources of help that may be useful to local areas and government departments supporting local public service reform.
The Department for Education should set out the planned overall impact of the programme on productivity and growth.
This interactive briefing pack summarises the National Audit Office’s work in the police and fire sectors since 2012. It highlights the key messages coming from a selection of our recent reports and should be of interest to Police and Crime Commissioners and their officers, senior police and fire officials and the general public.
The Department of Health and its partners are still some way from implementing a plan to put the NHS’ finances in England on a sustainable footing, according to three reports issued by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
There have been improvements in the way government plans and manages public sector activity, but the NAO does not consider that there exists a coherent, enduring framework for planning and management.
This report is published alongside ‘Spending Review 2015’.
There have been improvements in the way government plans and manages public sector activity, but the NAO does not consider that there exists a coherent, enduring framework for planning and management.
This report is published alongside ‘Government’s management of its performance: progress with single departmental plans’.
Explore the trends in capital expenditure and resourcing since 2010-11 and build a richer understanding of what they mean for different local authorities.