Whitehall initiatives to revive former coalfield communities have helped to make them more attractive places to live and work but many remain among the most deprived areas in England and opportunities to help train local people and promote local businesses have been missed, the NAO has today reported. The regeneration effort has three strands: the […]
The new directorates that replaced the former UKBA have made progress in some areas but not across the whole business.
This report assesses the Ministry of Defence’s approach to reducing and reforming its civilian workforce.
There is a strong rationale for modernising NHS dentistry, but significant risks will have to be managed if the new arrangements announced by the Department of Health are to be effective and provide value for money, according to the National Audit Office. In particular, given the scepticism of some dentists compounded by a lack of […]
MOD has made good progress stabilising the equipment programme but needs to set out how a bespoke trading entity will transform Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) into the leading defence acquisition organisation by 2017.
Our report looks at how DHSC is responding to the challenges facing adult social care in England, and its progress delivering reforms.
The management of rail franchising has improved since 2012 however significant risks remain to achieving value for money as the programme develops.
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that the refinancing of the public private partnership for NATS, completed late last year, has put the Company on a much more robust financial footing, enabling it to make further vital investment to expand the capacity of Air Traffic Control to meet future growth […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that the Home Office, together with other organisations, has instigated a number of programmes which have helped reduce thefts of and from vehicles by 30 per cent since 1999. This is a significant achievement but he added that there is nevertheless scope to reduce […]
Our report looks at whether the government is well positioned to achieve its drug strategy’s 10-year ambitions.
Firebuy, established by the Department for Communities and Local Government to support procurement of kit by Fire and Rescue Services, has cost nearly twice as much to set up and run as the total savings it claims to have delivered.
The NAO has found that departments are committed to identifying possible reductions and are taking a pragmatic approach to identifying measures to reduce burdens. The departments evaluated in the NAO study are seeking to reduce quantified administrative burdens, but also deliver wider improvements in the regulatory environment by tackling aspects of regulation that businesses find […]
The Crown Court backlog is the highest on record and the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) ambition to reduce the caseload to 53,000 by March 2025 is no longer achievable.
This report assesses the government’s plans for, and progress, in reducing the backlog in criminal courts.
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today welcomed progress made by the Prison Service in introducing programmes designed to help reduce the risk of reoffending but said there needs to be greater consistency in their provision across prisons. Currently around 58 per cent of prisoners are reconvicted within two years of being […]
In 2006-07, almost 800,000 incidents caused 14 million minutes of delay to rail journeys costing a minimum of £1 billion in terms of time lost to passengers, according to a report released today by the National Audit Office. There was a sharp increase in delay minutes after the Hatfield derailment in October 2000 and the […]
Until the government is able to establish effective oversight of the modern slavery system as a whole, it will not be able to significantly reduce the prevalence of modern slavery or show that it is achieving value for money.
DWP does not yet have enough evidence to demonstrate that its activities to reduce the cost of mistakes by customers have been value for money. Although mistakes are difficult to detect, correct and prevent, the scale of overpayments and underpayments demonstrates a clear need for improvement.
The Department of Health has met its target to reduce MRSA bloodstream infections by 50 per cent by 2008 and has made encouraging progress towards its target to reduce Clostridium difficile infections, according to a National Audit Office report published today. However, blood stream infections due to other causes may be increasing. There is also […]
The report examines progress that the Department of Health & Social Care, NHS England, NHS Improvement and other stakeholders are making in reducing the impact of emergency admissions on acute hospitals. The report takes a whole-system approach, and looks at action across acute, primary, community and social care systems.