Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that Home Office grants of £927 million to Police Basic Command Units, Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in England and Community Safety Partnerships in Wales to fund crime reduction work have contributed in part to a 22 per cent reduction in the number of […]
The BBC’s cost reduction programme has so far delivered value for money. However, the need to make further savings from productivity improvements will involve more challenging and potentially disruptive changes to structures and ways of working.
The Department for Work and Pensions will have to make rapid progress in reorganising the way it operates if it is to meet its target of cutting costs by £20 billion in four years while achieving substantial reform of the welfare system.
The Department for Transport started its preparations for the 2010 spending review early and took steps to improve and challenge the evidence on which it based its decisions with a view to securing value for money.
HMRC faces a significant challenge in securing a £1.6 billion reduction in running costs over the next four years, at the same time as increasing tax revenues, improving customer service and achieving reductions in welfare payments.
This report examines how well the government has used public money to support the uptake of ultra-low emission cars.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Skills Funding Agency are pursuing a range of initiatives to simplify funding, qualification and assurance systems in further education. However, they do not know the scale of the problem faced by further education colleges and other providers.
Alcohol-related ill-health is an increasing burden for the National Health Service. Alcohol misuse costs the health service in the order of £2.7 billion a year, but efforts to address it locally are not in general well-planned, the National Audit Office reported today. The Department of Health is however raising the profile of alcohol misuse by […]
There is a shortfall of 5,170 (2.8 per cent) trained Armed Forces personnel against the Ministry of Defence’s estimated requirements. Only the Army is within “manning balance”, and there are wider shortages of personnel in specific trade groups. According to today’s report to Parliament, by head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn, there […]
The National Audit Office has today reported that the processes used by central government to recruit civil servants do not fully deliver value for money. Departments are working to understand and improve parts of the external recruitment process but more can be done. In 2007-08, central government recruited more than 40,000 new staff, with 78 […]
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.
The successful commercialisation of intellectual property in agricultural research requires identifying the best opportunities for commercial exploitation of publicly financed research; obtaining further funds to develop and protect ideas; and managing risks when making deals and establishing spin-out companies. These points are brought out in a National Audit Office report today on the performance of […]
The St Helena airport’s planned opening date in May 2016 has been postponed as outstanding safety concerns are addressed, potentially adding to the project’s cost and delaying its benefits.
This report an update to the NAO’s 2016 report on the St Helena airport and the FCDO’s economic support of the St Helena government.
This report sets out the facts about government preparing the NHS and adult social care in England for COVID-19.
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today on the effectiveness of Postcomm’s regulation of quality of service. His report, which follows up on his 2002 report Opening the Post, finds that the overall value for money of regulation will be improved as it reduces burdens on Royal Mail while enhancing consumer […]
The reforms set out in government’s rail transformation plans are facing delays, and there remain long-standing issues with the rail sector that need to be addressed, such as its financial sustainability and service to passengers.
The £22.5 billion auction of radio spectrum for the third generation of mobile telephones was well designed and efficient, Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today. Key success factors were that the Radiocommunications Agency marketed the opportunity and consulted the Industry extensively before the auction, rehearsed it, managed the bidding […]