The public sector could save annually over £220 million in food and catering costs by 2010-11, while raising nutritional standards and increasing sustainability, Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, has reported today. In particular, there is significant scope for improvement by increasing joined up procurement, implementing good practice, enhancing the roles and […]
£173 million was spent last year on trials and hearings in magistrates’ courts that did not go ahead as planned. Of this, nearly £24 million was due to the Crown Prosecution Service. The National Audit Office calculate that 28 per cent (784,000 annually) of all pre-trial hearings in magistrates’ courts do not proceed on the […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that while the Environment Agency provides well-managed and professional water resource management services there is scope to improve efficiency and realise net savings of some £450,000 a year on its activities in England, with a further potential saving of between £1 million to £2 […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the Ministry of Defence has a good system for reporting the readiness of its Armed Forces, which continues to improve. More work is required, however, both to better define and measure its Public Service Agreement target for readiness, and to define and […]
The Department for International Development responds quickly and, in general, effectively when intervening in humanitarian emergencies, especially sudden-onset disasters, and has helped to save lives. However, according to a report to Parliament by the National Audit Office, DFID should do more to measure and evaluate the success of its humanitarian work in order to learn […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament on the 2001-02 trading fund accounts of the Royal Mint. Sir John noted that the Royal Mint had recorded an operating loss (excluding the one-off costs of a restructuring programme) of £6.5 million for the 2001-02 financial year – its second consecutive […]
In the three years since the Royal Household took over responsibility for managing its own air and rail travel, the cost of such travel has reduced by two thirds. However, as a result of the National Audit Office’s enquiries, the basis of charging by the Ministry of Defence for royal use of the RAF’s 32 […]
The urgent need for change in how government departments and agencies procure and manage new construction projects, currently worth some £7.5 billion a year, is highlighted today in a National Audit Office report. It concludes that there is now no excuse for government clients and the industry to fail to take advantage of readily available […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the United Kingdom made a major and vital contribution to the successful NATO operation in Kosovo. And the Ministry of Defence’s financial management of their military operations in Kosovo represented a clear improvement over that achieved in Bosnia. Against the background of […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today on the risk of fraud in property management in the Ministry of Defence. Property management on the Defence Estate consists of maintenance work and minor new construction work up to a value of about £300,000 for each individual job, including VAT and […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that 23 per cent (over 14,000 houses) of the family quarters estate held in Great Britain by the Ministry of Defence (the Department) was vacant, costing some £39 milliona year in rent and maintenance. The Executive disposed of nearly 2,000 houses in […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament on joint administration of criminal justice by the main Departments concerned – the Crown Prosecution Service, the Home Office, and the Lord Chancellor’s Department. Departments have taken significant steps to improve collaboration between agencies and to focus on joint outcomes and streamline […]
Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament on Government procurement. Some 1,500 staff spend some £13billion each year on civil procurement across government. Procurement is therefore big business and getting it right is central to the management of any organisation. The report focuses on the scope for improved procurement […]