Despite major expenditure by central government departments,weaknesses in departmental strategies and governance arrangements have limited the effectiveness of skills development activities.
A programme to equip frontline police officers with mobile devices, such as BlackBerrys and personal data assistants, has achieved a basic level of benefits. However, as the benefits for most forces do not extend beyond this basic level, then value for money has not yet been achieved from the £80 million of expenditure.
DEFRA has delivered some value from the £39.3 million spent on its geographic information strategy and activities. However, a lack of financial information means that the NAO cannot determine that value for money has been achieved.
The amount of money being spent by government on external consultants has fallen slightly since 2006-07. However, government is not getting value for money from its use of consultants because it often lacks the information, skills and strategies to manage them effectively.
The project to replace the 46 Fire and Rescue Services’ local control rooms across England with nine purpose-built regional control centres linked by a new IT system has been a comprehensive failure, according to the National Audit Office. The Department for Communities and Local Government acted to cut its losses by terminating the contract in […]
The role of assurance is to provide information to those that sponsor, govern and manage a project to help them make better informed decisions which reduce the causes of project failure, promote the conditions for success and deliver improved outcomes.
The BBC’s approach to the early stages of its Digital Media Initiative (DMI) was disappointing and did not achieve value for money. However, since taking the Programme back in house, delivery of the system has progressed well, with users responding positively.
This report assesses how government is trying to address the underlying issues that make digital transformation so difficult to achieve.
This report examines whether Defra has a full understanding of its legacy challenges, including cyber security risks, and if plans to address the problem are realistic, achievable and aligned to future needs.
HMRC has taken significant steps to improve the efficiency of National Insurance administration, but needs to demonstrate more clearly that it is providing value for money from the £350 million it spends each year and take advantage of opportunities to secure further savings.
This report examines the MoD’s progress implementing digital transformation.
The National Audit Office has identified errors in specialist pay, allowances and expenses paid to the Armed Forces via their Payroll and Human Resources system, as well as the inadequacy of evidence to support certain fixed assets and stock balances in the financial statements. For this reason, the Comptroller and Auditor General has qualified his […]
The Rural Payments Agency and DEFRA have shown scant regard to protecting public money in their administration and management of the EU’s Single Payment Scheme in England, according to the National Audit Office. The IT system does not meet the scheme’s needs, the cost of processing claims, already very high, has continued to increase and […]
Government faces increasing pressure to do more with fewer financial resources and, with challenges such as climate change and an ageing population, will require innovation in public services. Since 2006, when the National Audit Office last reported to Parliament on innovation in central government, departments have started to implement some of the report’s recommendations and […]
HM Courts Service has taken practical steps to improve the use of the Crown Court’s existing resources but a number of risks to value for money remain, the National Audit Office has today reported. The Crown Court operates from around 500 court rooms at almost 100 locations around England and Wales. In 2007 it heard […]
This report considers what the Superfast Broadband Programme has delivered and the lessons for government’s roll-out of nationwide gigabit broadband.
This report sets out the lessons for government and departments to learn from the experience of implementing digital change.
This report sets out the NAO’s assessment of the delivery of the electronic monitoring (‘tagging’) transformation programme.
This report assesses the Home Office’s progress in delivering the National Law Enforcement Data Service programme to replace outdated police ICT systems.
The BBC Executive did not have a sufficient grip on its Digital Media Initiative programme. Nor did it commission a thorough independent assessment to see whether it was technically sound.