Four out of five students starting a full-time course in England are expected to complete their course, the NAO reported today. The United Kingdom’s performance on retention compares favourably with most other OECD countries, during a period of expansion in higher education. In a new report to Parliament, published as students await their A level […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, has today qualified his opinion on the Department for Work and Pensions accounts for the eighteenth consecutive year. This is because an estimated £2.5 billion has been lost to fraud and error in benefit payments, and because of uncertainties over the debts created by customers being […]
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 […]
HMRC has made progress in changing the way it deals with Corporation Tax for the largest businesses in the UK, the NAO says today, but there are ways in which it can improve, particularly in focusing on higher amounts of tax at risk. That was the main finding in today’s report to Parliament which recognises […]
The process for setting the London 2012 Games budget has been thorough, the National Audit Office says today, but the level of public funding has increased greatly, and significant areas of uncertainty remain including the finalisation of the design of venues and the intended wider benefits. These are the main findings in a new report […]
The evasion of road tax by motorists and motorcyclists has increased significantly, the National Audit Office has reported. According to the Department for Transport’s roadside survey in June 2006, Vehicle Excise Duty evasion was running at some 5 per cent (£217 million), up from 3.6 per cent (£147 million) the previous year. The Driver and […]
Two schemes, administered until recently by the Department of Trade and Industry, to compensate miners for damage to their health has resulted in the settlement of some 575,000 claims by March 2007, the payment of £3.6 billion in compensation and administration costs of £1.9 billion. A report out today by the National Audit Office has […]
The changes to how the Ministry of Defence maintains and repairs Harrier and Tornado aircraft have reduced costs by a total of £1.4 billion over the last six years. Although availability of the aircraft temporarily declined during the transition period, availability targets for the Harrier are now being met and for the Tornado, where the […]
Government has made progress in making a wide range of information available to the public through the internet. But the National Audit Office has found that although internet users rate government websites reasonably well, the quality of those websites has improved only slightly since 2002. Todays report to Parliament looked at the progress made by […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, today issued his audit certificate on HM Revenue & Customs 2006-07 Trust Statement of revenues. Sir John was able to issue an unqualified audit opinion on the truth and fairness of the Trust Statement, but in common with 2005-06, issued a qualified opinion on regularity due to levels […]
Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs), used to assess the need for, and potential impact of, new regulations, have not always been used effectively, according to a report published today by the National Audit Office. The report finds that RIAs often failed to consider fully the cost and benefit of regulation, and did not take account of […]
Income tax is processed accurately in the majority of cases by HM Revenue & Customs, but errors in processing lead to the wrong amount of tax being paid by around 1 million taxpayers, the NAO says today. In a new report to Parliament, the spending watchdog points out that HMRC accurately calculates the right amount […]
Despite a steeply rising trend in cases of dementia, the condition is being given too low a priority by health and social services, according to a report out today by the National Audit Office. Too few people are being diagnosed, or being diagnosed early enough, and early interventions known to be cost-effective are not being […]
The Department of Trade and Industrys scheme to compensate former UK trawlermen who lost their jobs as a result of settlement of the Cod Wars with Iceland cost some 43 million, 18 million more than initially estimated. Some claims took a long time to process and the NAO could be certain about the accuracy of […]
The Environment Agency has made a number of improvements in the management of flood risk since 2001. Despite this, the Agency has not met its target to maintain 63 per cent of England’s flood defence systems in their target condition. A report out today by the National Audit Office highlights a number of improvements to […]
Staff sickness absence in the Department for Transport and its agencies averaged 10.4 days in 2005, costing the taxpayer around £24 million a year, according to a new NAO report published today. Performance varies across the Department, and some parts such as the central department, the Highways Agency and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency compare […]
Local authorities should work more collaboratively with voluntary and community organisations to help them improve the delivery of public services, according to a report out today by the National Audit Office. The report looked at whether Local Area Agreements (LAAs) are helping to promote better value for money in the way government works with the […]