The New Asylum Model, introduced by the Home Office in 2006 to achieve faster conclusions to asylum applications, has strengthened aspects of the asylum process, according to a report today by the National Audit Office. The case ownership approach, in which a single individual manages an application from start to finish, has created a strong […]
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has recently made considerable progress in increasing the number and size of local authority projects to procure new waste treatment facilities under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). But, according to a National Audit Office report today, the Department was initially too slow to respond to the 1999 […]
Central government could make large savings by better managing its contracts for services such as IT, security, catering and cleaning, according to a report today by the National Audit Office. Better contract management could potentially generate estimated savings of between £160 million and £290 million a year, across total annual expenditure on service contracts of […]
Over the past ten years, the Ministry of Defence has introduced a number of reforms to the way it procures defence equipment, but its performance on Major Projects remains variable. As part of its annual report to Parliament, the National Audit Office examined twenty of the largest defence equipment projects. The report found that, during […]
The Department for Communities and Local Government has given local authorities approximately £68 million a year to improve the handling of planning applications and in particular to speed them up. While authorities are taking more decisions on major housing schemes within 13 weeks, the true extent of the improvement across the development process is not […]
The NHS reported a surplus of £1.67 billion in 2007-08. According to a report jointly prepared by the Audit Commission and the National Audit Office and published today, the surplus achieved reflected good use of resources rather than a failure to deliver healthcare. The Department of Health (DH) has given a commitment that the NHS […]
The National Audit Office reported today that the Royal Household has improved value for money by tightening up the way it plans and manages its maintenance of the Occupied Royal Palaces. Without an agreed way of measuring the condition of the estate, however, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport cannot show how far the […]
CDC Group plc, the government-owned fund management business tasked to invest in private businesses in developing countries, has exceeded the financial and investment targets set for it in 2004, when it was restructured. CDC has secured a good return on public funds, in a portfolio weighted towards poor countries, and to that extent it has […]
Each year around half a million people die in England, three quarters of whom do so following a period of chronic illness, such as cancer or heart disease. A report out today by the National Audit Office found that some people approaching the end of their life receive a high quality service, but that there […]
Increased spending has been accompanied by an improvement in the condition of England’s Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), according to a report released today by the National Audit Office. The assessment of the condition of SSSIs, however, has fallen behind and there is a risk that Natural England is not detecting all sites that […]
HMRC has improved how it manages debts owed to it by taxpayers, according to a report by the National Audit Office. The amount of money owed has reduced from 4.3 per cent of tax collected in 2005-06 to 3.8 per cent in 2007-08. The age of the direct tax debt has also reduced. Over the […]
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), the body with responsibility for the police complaints system, has improved its performance against targets, in spite of a significant increase in its workload. In a report out today the National Audit Office finds, however, that the IPCC needs to do more to get feedback from complainants on how […]
HM Revenue & Customs clears most imported goods quickly, and processes for submitting customs declarations and payments for non-EU imports are straightforward, says a report out today from the National Audit Office. The rate of physical checks at the UK border is below the EU average, however, and the number of audits of traders has […]
The programme to maintain the UK’s nuclear deterrent beyond the life of the current system, with the introduction into service of the first of a new class of submarines in 2024, is at an early stage, but the Ministry of Defence has made good progress establishing programme management arrangements and engaging stakeholders. The timetable is […]
A £330 million programme has enhanced the 46 English Fire and Rescue Services’ capacity to respond to terrorist attacks and other catastrophic incidents such as major flooding. But better value for money could have been secured in the procurement of the specialist vehicles and equipment, according to a National Audit Office report out today. The New […]