By operating in a more integrated way, government could reduce inefficiencies in public services and deliver a better service to citizens. A case study on the Whole-Place Community Budget pilots points to the potential benefits on offer where public services are integrated more effectively.
Inadequate forecasting is an entrenched problem for government departments, leading to poor value for money and increased costs for the taxpayer.
G4S and Serco, two of the new providers awarded Home Office contracts to provide accommodation for asylum seekers in the UK, struggled to get the contracts up and running.
Although some areas of the NHS in England are achieving value for money for out-of-hours GP services, this is not the case across the board.
There are serious risks to HMRC’s business if the programme to replace the Aspire contract fails to meet its objectives by June 2017, when the contract ends.
This memorandum sets out the events surrounding the Ministry of Justice’s process to re-compete its electronic monitoring contracts and its subsequent decision to commission a forensic audit of these contracts
Progress on the Government’s initiative to achieve £1.5 billion worth of savings from operational PFI contracts.
The government’s procurement strategy has led to savings. But, a cultural shift is needed if government is to obtain all the benefits available.
The NAO believes a review of the New Homes Bonus scheme is essential to ensure the Department understands the substantial financial risks to local authorities.
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 Compact is a voluntary agreement that sets out shared principles for effective partnership working between the government and voluntary and civil society organisations in England.
The Treasury’s 2009 decision to split Northern Rock in two was reasonable at the time but the final net cost to the taxpayer could be some £2 billion.
Although new organisations set up as part of the reformed health system were ready to start functioning on time, the transition to the system is not yet complete.
Investors in taxpayer-owned banks were paid an excessive interest rate for risk actually being shouldered by taxpayers. The buy-back was therefore value for money.
The Treasury’s Asset Protection Scheme to protect over £280 billion of Royal Bank of Scotland’s financial assets against losses had a beneficial impact on financial markets. But the Scheme has, so far, only been partially successful in encouraging lending to creditworthy borrowers on the scale originally envisaged.
2nd edition 2012
Boards can assess the financial management information reported to them against best practice using the guide.
MyCSP has the potential to be good value for money with a projected saving of 50 per cent on costs, but the Cabinet Office and MyCSP still face many large challenges in transforming the service.
The Government’s ability to show that its spending decisions represent the best value for money is being hindered by the patchy availability of good information.
Used appropriately, GPC can be a cost-effective way for government to procure goods and services. However, there is no up to date value-for-money case quantifying the benefits of the cards. There has also been a lack of clear central guidance on when the cards are the most appropriate way to procure goods and services.
The programme to make superfast broadband widely available in each area of the UK is currently expected to be delivered nearly two years later than planned.