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 […]
Full cost recovery remains an important principle for financial relationships between government and the third sector, but government departments have found difficulties in translating the principle into practice, according to a review published today by the National Audit Office. Today’s review examines the progress made by central government departments in ensuring that, by April 2006, […]
The National Audit Office has today called for a step change improvement in how central government departments work with each other and with regional and local bodies, if the Government’s ambitious aspirations for the Thames Gateway region are to be realised. The Government has set out its vision to make the Thames Gateway, the area […]
GPs could prescribe lower cost clinically effective medicines without affecting patient care, according to Parliament’s spending watchdog. And this could save primary care trusts (PCTs) more than £200 million a year. Today’s report by the National Audit Office also points out that unused or wasted drugs could cost the NHS at least £100 million a […]
Five years after its creation the Financial Services Authority, the independent body regulating the financial services industry in the UK, is a well-established regulator with an impressive set of processes and structures to help tackle high-risk organisations and markets. It now needs to streamline and fully integrate these processes and structures, and increase its focus […]
Making forms and guidance easier to obtain and understand should help to reduce the unintentional errors by taxpayers and result in more accurate tax assessments. A report from the National Audit Office today proposes improvements which build on changes already introduced by HM Revenue & Customs. Taxpayers can obtain forms and guidance from HM Revenue […]
The majority of government departments and agencies are failing to meet targets to make their new buildings and major refurbishments sustainable, according to a report published today by the National Audit Office. As a result, value for money may be lost from the £3billion which departments and agencies spend each year on this activity. A […]
Under the new NHS consultants’ contract, consultants in England are earning on average 25 per cent more than three years ago but are working the same number of hours or less. Whilst the contract has the potential to improve management of consultant time it has yet to deliver the full value for money to the […]