This Departmental Overview is one of 17 we have produced covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the Department of Energy & Climate Change 2013-14.
The Regional Development Agencies’ physical regeneration programmes have helped to generate additional regional wealth. However, because of Agency weaknesses in identifying the projects which would maximise regional economic growth, the National Audit Office is unable to conclude the Agencies have secured as much benefit as they should have. Since 1999, the eight RDAs outside of […]
This report examines the performance, implementation, procurement and management of the Green Homes Grant scheme.
We focus on specific concerns about the financial support provided to students attending some alternative HE colleges and other providers.
The rate at which electronic care records systems are being put in place across the NHS under the National Programme for IT is falling far below expectations and the core aim that every patient should have an electronic care record under the Programme will not now be achieved.
This briefing responds to a request from the Environmental Audit Committee that we review how the 2015 spending review took account of environmental issues.
In a report published today, the National Audit Office has found that the Post Office Network Change Programme has largely met its targets and complied with the undertakings given by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. However, the implementation of some of the new Outreach services, planned for 500 locations where conventional post […]
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 […]
Limitations in Network Rail’s cost information has hampered the ability of the Office of Rail Regulation to assess efficiency savings.
This report examines the extent to which the UK’s product safety regime protects consumers from harm, focusing on the OPSS.
The National Audit Office and the Audit Commission have today called for public bodies to work together much more effectively than they currently do to maximise savings from procurement activities.
Initiatives to reduce the administrative burdens of complying with regulations have helped improve business perceptions of the government’s approach to regulation but businesses have not reported a reduction in the time taken to comply with regulations. The Administrative Burdens Reduction Programme aims to reduce by a quarter by 2010 the cost to businesses of complying […]
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS’s) free face-to-face advice for people struggling with debt has helped more people than planned, at slightly less than the planned cost per person, and is highly regarded by those that use it. However, demand is now outstripping capacity.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has established the first comprehensive programme to clean up the UK’s first generation of public sector civil nuclear facilities. A report out today by the National Audit Office shows that the Authority has made progress but will need to tackle significant challenges if it is to ensure a step change in […]
Electricity cannot be stored economically in large quantities, and electricity supply and demand throughout the UK must therefore be balanced on a second by second basis. As System Operator, National Grid is responsible for doing this, and it uses a variety of mechanisms which are collectively known as Balancing Services.
All three projects examined by the NAO have experienced significant delays stemming from a range of problems.