Difficulties encountered by a government agency in making payments under the EU’s Single Payment Scheme have caused distress to a significant minority of farmers, cost farmers money in additional interest and bank charges, and undermined the farming industry’s confidence in the agency, according to a report published today. The study by the National Audit Office […]
This briefing is intended to assist the Public Administration Committee in considering options for work on the ‘third sector’ or voluntary and community sector.
There is a significant risk that local authorities in England will fail to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste sent to landfill by enough for the UK to meet EU targets, according to a report by Parliament?s spending watchdog. The Government intends to penalise local authorities who fail to make their share of the required […]
The first independent report into operational innovation in central government has found that, although a deep rooted culture of risk aversion is being tackled and improvements in quality and efficiency of service are being made, government bodies could still secure greater benefits and efficiencies with more innovative and progressive approaches. The NAO report published today […]
The Ministry of Defence’s £2.4 billion programme to transform battlefield communications, command and control through the joint introduction of Bowman digital radios and the advanced Combat Infrastructure Platform (CIP) to an exacting 30 month timescale, has been recast. A revised programme and a further £121 million of funding have been approved to deliver the capabilities […]
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office resource accounts for 2005-06, published today, include a report by Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, on the theft and misuse of satellite phones in Iraq. The NAO report provides Parliament with details of losses of £594,000 caused by the unauthorised use of satellite telephones in Iraq. […]
The Pension Service has made real and substantial progress since 2002 in helping pensioners to secure their entitlements using new and well thought through approaches, but will need to build on this work to improve take-up still further. A report today by the National Audit Office highlights the need to develop local work to reach […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that payments, amounting to £233,000, which the Public Health Laboratory Service Board made to certain members of staff in 2004-05 did not comply with Treasury guidelines. In the course of closing PHLS Media Services, the Board retained a small number of individuals […]
Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament on the qualification of his audit opinion on the House of Commons Members Resource Accounts for 2005-06. Notes to Editors Press notices and reports are available from the date of publication on the NAO website at www.nao.gov.uk. Hard copies can be obtained […]
The UK has levels of social security fraud and error which are similar to those in comparable countries, but the Department for Work and Pensions has a better understanding than other nations of the problems and is doing more to tackle them. A report by the National Audit Office, based on research carried out by […]
IT services are crucial for HM Revenue & Customs’ business. In its procurement of the £3 billion IT outsourcing contract, ASPIRE, the Department secured competition for a contract which meets its IT needs, and completed the transfer to the new supplier Capgemini without loss of service to customers. The Department secured the competition by contributing […]
Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament on the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) accounts for 2005-06. The VED evasion rate increased from 3.4 percent in 2004 to 3.6 percent in 2005 (£147 million). This reversed the previous decrease, and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) acknowledges that it […]
Since 1999, low cost home ownership (LCHO) assistance has helped 40,000 people to buy their properties. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has made a commitment to help an extra 100,000 households into home ownership by 2010. But demand for assistance far exceeds supply. In 2004-05, 11,000 households received assistance through Government funded […]
Published 12 July 2006
The National Audit Office has found that while the NHS has successfully reduced its expenditure on agency nursing staff, temporary staff remain a key component of trusts’ ability to be flexible and expenditure on temporary nursing staff employed through nursing banks and NHS Professionals has increased. Many NHS trusts do not have robust information to […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, today published a report on HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) accounts for the year 2005-2006. HMRC collected total revenue of some £404 billion. For the fourth year running, Sir John has qualified his opinion on the Trust Statement in respect of tax credits because of the likely level […]
The Department for International Development works well with civil society organisations (CSOs) to help some of the world’s poorest people, according to today’s National Audit Office report. But the department needs better information on the effectiveness of CSOs in developing countries, and on the impact of its assistance, if it is to ensure aid is […]
The creation of Ofcom, the Office of Communications, was a major challenge, demanding decisive leadership and well structured project management. There were, however, no clear measures put in place at the outset to monitor whether the merger was a success. Although data is limited, the NAO has carried out a preliminary assessment which indicates that […]