The Department for Education recognised since 2010 that child protection services are not good enough but its subsequent response has not yet resulted in better outcomes. Spending on children’s social work, including on child protection, varies widely across England and is not related to quality. Neither the DfE nor authorities understand why spending varies.
Devolution deals to devolve power from central government to local areas in England offer opportunities to stimulate economic growth and reform public services for local users, but the arrangements are untested and government could do more to provide confidence that these deals will achieve the benefits intended
This report highlights the issues our case study areas told us were important to them in carrying out the Care Act. Local authorities may find their experience informative as they continue to develop their own approaches to carrying out the Care Act.
The CQC, the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England, has made substantial progress but needs to recruit and train staff and build a new organisational culture.
Responses to Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests made to the NAO in 2024.
Services and outcomes for people with neurological conditions need further improvement.
This report focuses on the role of the centre of government in supporting government departments’ oversight of arm’s-length bodies.
This investigation covers the Home Office’s establishment and administration of the Windrush Compensation Scheme.
Fire and rescue authorities have managed funding reductions well. The Department for Communities and Local Government should, however, seek greater assurance that authorities are maintaining service standards and delivering value for money locally
Shared ownership, now the largest remaining government-supported housing scheme, is a complex arrangement and can cause unexpected fees
This paper explores the principles departments should use to manage provider failure. There is room for improvement in the way failure of providers is considered and managed.
The government has made a commitment to improve support for young people leaving foster or residential care in England but the system is not working effectively.
The NAO’s governance arrangements ensure that we operate effectively and transparently with due oversight while maintaining our independence.
The National Audit Office (NAO) is the UK’s independent public spending watchdog. We support Parliament in holding government to account and we help improve public services through our high-quality audits.
While the impact of the Pupil Premium will take time to become clear, it has the potential to bring about a significant improvement in outcomes. However, the Department for Education and schools have more to do.
This Departmental Overview is one of 17 we are producing covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the Department for Communities and Local Government during 2013-14.
The NAO examines whether MHCLG’s work to increase the supply of suitable land for housing development will help deliver 1.5m new homes.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas Morse, reports to the House of Commons on the systems in place to collect TV licence fee revenue.
In his annual speech in Parliament, Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said government can provide people with better public services despite the challenging fiscal backdrop.
The Government did not meet its goal of transferring by 1 June 2014 all people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour, for whom it was appropriate, from mental hospitals into the community.