The implementation of a project to create a centre to streamline back-office functions for the seven research councils has so far not been good value for money and there is a risk that the councils may not recover their investment.
Financial pressures are growing on local authority maintained schools and the capacity of local authorities to support financial management in schools is itself under pressure. The Department for Education needs a system for alerting it to problems requiring intervention.
Many NHS trusts need to tackle a range of financial, quality and governance issues if they are to meet the standards required of them to become self-governing foundation trusts by 2014. The Department of Health and the NHS will now have to decide how they will deal with those facing the most severe problems.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas Morse, has qualified his opinion on the 2010-11 House of Commons Members Accounts because information on MPs whose expense claims are under investigation by the police was not made available for audit.
There is a growing belief that policy goals may be achieved more effectively if the design and use of interventions incorporate a better understanding of behaviour. This is therefore intrinsic to value for money. This guide provides the NAO’s emerging thinking on what a value for money assessment of a behaviour change programme may focus on.
Shortcomings must be addressed if value for money is to be secured in the future for users of social care “personal budgets” once they are extended to all eligible users by April 2013.
It will be difficult for government departments to achieve value for money from means-tested benefits unless government understands the impacts of means testing, learns from past experience and improves coordination between different benefits.
The NAO has published its report on the 2010-11 accounts of the Department of Transport.July 2011
Defra needs good cost information to scrutinise and challenge its arm’s length bodies, so that it can reduce costs with minimal disruption to frontline services.
The NAO has published its report on the 2010-11 accounts of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The NAO has published its report on the 2010-11 accounts of the Rural payments Agency.
The NAO has today published a review of three formula-based grants from central government to fund local public services.
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 letter and attachments were sent to the House of Lords Communications Committee following a request for written evidence on the role of the National Audit Office in relation to the BBC.
The NAO has published its report on the 2010-11 accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions.
The NAO has published its report on the 2010-11 accounts of the Skills Funding Agency.
The NAO has published its report on the 2010-11 accounts of the Ministry of Defence.
PaceSetter has led to productivity improvements and may have contributed to greater staff engagement. However, the extent to which overall efficiency has improved is not clear; and some key principles of process improvement are not yet being applied strategically across the entire organisation.
This Report on HM Treasury’s Resource Accounts for 2010-11 sets out the scale and costs of the Government’s financial interventions as at 31 March 2011.
Despite major expenditure by central government departments,weaknesses in departmental strategies and governance arrangements have limited the effectiveness of skills development activities.