There are some good examples across government of alternatives to regulation being used to achieve policy objectives. However more needs to done to share these examples to highlight when alternatives are most likely to work and how they should be designed.
MOD’s procurement budget is now more stable, despite a £754m increase in the cost of the carriers, but there are still risks to the affordability of the equipment plan.
The Help to Buy equity loan scheme is improving access to mortgage finance, but the scheme’s costs will be substantial.
This report establishes the facts on how the government has provided accommodation for rough sleepers during COVID-19.
This report looks at the Restart scheme, DWP’s employment support response for people who are long-term unemployed.
Government is owed a large amount of money but has no overall view of its debt reduction objectives nor of the financial risk that the debt poses.
The management of rail franchising has improved since 2012 however significant risks remain to achieving value for money as the programme develops.
We focus on specific concerns about the financial support provided to students attending some alternative HE colleges and other providers.
The New Hospital Programme (NHP) has experienced delays and is expected to deliver 32 of the intended target of 40 new hospitals by 2030.
The DWP has had to delay the Personal Independence Payment programme’s roll-out and reduce expected savings during this Spending Review period.
MOD’s procurement budget is now more stable, despite a £754m increase in the cost of the carriers, but there are still risks to the affordability of the equipment plan.
In December 2015 a five year contract, worth around £800 million between UnitingCare Partnership and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough clinical commissioning group collapsed after only 8 months because it ran into financial difficulties. NAO examined the design, procurement and operation of the contract and the events that led to its termination.
The Department for Work and Pensions have made good progress in tackling benefit fraud and estimating the level of fraud and error in key benefits, according to the National Audit Office. By March 2002 the Department had cut the estimated level of fraud and error in Income Support and Jobseeker’s Allowance by 24 per cent […]
Inadequate forecasting is an entrenched problem for government departments, leading to poor value for money and increased costs for the taxpayer.
Treasury expects all departments to evaluate the ex post impacts and costs of all their interventions, including spending, taxation and regulation. This activity should provide valuable information on the cost-effectiveness of government interventions, for the purposes of accountability and to learn lessons to improve current and future policies.
In a report to Parliament today, head of the NAO Sir John Bourn recognised that the outsourcing of the Department of Social Security’s medical assessment service had reduced costs and speeded up the turnaround of work. But the standard of medical assessments and the quality of service to benefit customers need to improve. The service […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that the failure to introduce the Benefits Payment Card had cost the Department of Social Security some £127 million in nugatory system development. Delays in the Card programme, which was part of a pioneering Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project designed also to […]
This report examines whether Defra is well placed to redevelop the UK’s primary site for managing threats from animal diseases.
HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC’s) contract with Synnex-Concentrix UK Ltd was terminated in November 2016. The contract was designed to add capacity to HMRC’s programme of interventions to prevent or detect error and fraud in personal tax credits awards. HMRC estimated that the contract would save £1 billion over its three year life time and an estimated £193 million, excluding Concentrix’s costs, had been saved by the time of contract termination.