The Statement on Internal Control (SIC) is a public accountability document that describes the effectiveness of internal controls in an organisation and is personally signed by the Accounting Officer.
The Government received a good price when selling its interest in British Energy. But it is too early to say whether the sale will enable the Government to achieve its strategic objective of ensuring nuclear operators are able to build and operate new nuclear power stations from the earliest possible date and with no public […]
It is estimated that over a million social homes have been improved by the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Decent Homes Programme, which aims to improve the condition of homes for social housing tenants. The Department has also provided funding to improve conditions for vulnerable households in private sector accommodation. But the National Audit Office […]
HM Revenue and Customs’ performance in answering telephone calls in 2008-09 was well below its own targets and industry standards, the National Audit Office has reported today. In its Customer Contact Directorate, which answers 95 per cent of calls to the Department’s contact centres, only 57 per cent of 103 million call attempts were answered, compared […]
The Department of Health has developed an ambitious and comprehensive strategy for dementia. However, there has not yet been a robust approach to implementation, according to a National Audit Office report published today. Despite the Department stating, since 2007, that dementia is now a national priority, it has not been given the levers or urgency […]
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has increased the number of dangerous commercial vehicles that it removes from the roads from 28,900 in 2007-08 to 36,500 in 2008-09, but the Agency could make better use of its resources and the effectiveness of its roadside checks is constrained according to a National Audit Office report […]
We found that a number of barriers to effective accountability exist. The Good Practice guide identifies ways that central government organisations have overcome these barriers and will be of interest to both executives and non-executives.
Disclosure guides are designed to ensure that audited bodies have prepared an account in the appropriate form and have complied with all disclosure requirements.
This paper is the result of research undertaken in June 2009 in response to a House of Commons Defence Select Committee request that the NAO identify the views of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) about the Government’s Comprehensive Approach.
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 National Audit Office has today published independent reviews of value for money savings reported by the Department for Transport and the Home Office as part of their 2008-09 Annual Reports. The Department for Transport reported savings of £892 million, of which the NAO found that 43 per cent fairly represent realised cash savings, 22 […]
The current defence programme is unaffordable, according to a report from the National Audit Office. The Ministry of Defence has already reduced the deficit between the defence budget and planned expenditure by £15 billion, but a shortfall of between £6 billion and £36 billion remains. The financial crisis means a substantial increase in funding is […]
Venture capital funds injected by government into young companies can provide benefit to them, allowing them to raise finance not available through conventional means and to grow. But so far the funds have not been managed as a programme and lack a robust framework of objectives to measure performance, according to a report published by […]
The National Audit Office has concluded that the public support provided to UK banks by the Treasury was justified, given the scale of the economic and social costs if one or more major banks had collapsed. In providing that support, moreover, the Treasury met two of the government’s principal objectives: protecting depositors’ money in banks and […]
By transferring ownership or leases of around 60 per cent of its estate (591 properties) to a private contractor, Mapeley, in 2001, the Inland Revenue and HM Customs & Excise planned to reduce their running costs and had the opportunity to save up to £1.2 billion by reducing the size of the estate. However, in […]