This briefing was prepared for the House of Commons Defence Committee to help inform its inquiry into the education of Service children, its third in a series of inquiries looking at the workings of the Armed Forces Covenant.
The MoD has developed a strategy that identifies the estate it needs and the 25% of its estate it can dispose of by 2040. However, the strategy and current funding levels allow only for a partial reversal of the decline in the condition of the remaining estate. There is a significant risk that the poor condition of the estate will affect the Department’s ability to provide the defence capability needed.
The Better Care Fund has not achieved the expected value for money, in terms of savings, outcomes for patients or hospital activity.
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.
This briefing was prepared for the House of Commons Defence Committee to help inform its inquiry into the education of Service personnel, its fourth in a series of inquiries looking at the workings of the Armed Forces Covenant.
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
The welfare cap is encouraging a greater understanding of spending on some benefits and tax credits across government, but it is important that processes for managing the cap are reliable.
The Ministry of Defence offers a good range of resettlement support for those leaving the Armed Forces, and most people adapt back into civilian life easily and comfortably. There are a minority of people who have a more difficult time finding employment, housing or making the social transition. A National Audit Office survey of those […]
The Department of Health now needs to gain a better understanding of the different ways to commission personalised services for users, and how these lead to improvements in user outcomes.
Having shown that the concept of a national citizen service has something to offer young people, to demonstrate value for money the OCS and the Trust now need to show they can grow NCS as intended and run it at a more affordable cost to the taxpayer.
The Ministry of Defence has introduced positive changes to how it manages its estate and has invested substantial resources to maintain and improve it. The MoD, however, accepts that it has more work to do to provide a sustainable estate of the right quality, the National Audit Office has today reported to Parliament. The MoD […]
The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Green Deal design not only failed to deliver any meaningful benefit, it increased suppliers’ costs – and therefore energy bills – in meeting their obligations through the ECO scheme.
The first sale of government shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland in August 2015 was well planned and organised and represented value for money.
A briefing for the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee and the Energy and Climate Change Committee.
Overall spending on discretionary local welfare support by central and local government has reduced since April 2013. The consequences of this gap in provision are not understood.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Green Deal design not only failed to deliver any meaningful benefit, it increased suppliers’ costs – and therefore energy bills – in meeting their obligations through the ECO scheme.
This briefing paper is provided in response to a request from the Environmental Audit Committee that the National Audit Office provide information on local authorities and climate change.
Probation services have been restructured on time and within cost targets during a period of major change but operational problems and risks to further service transformation need to be resolved if re-offending levels are to reduce.
This briefing was prepared for the House of Commons Justice Committee to provide an international dimension to its inquiry into the budget and structure of the Ministry of Justice in England and Wales.
The Pension Service has made real and substantial progress since 2002 in helping pensioners to secure their entitlements using new and well thought through approaches, but will need to build on this work to improve take-up still further. A report today by the National Audit Office highlights the need to develop local work to reach […]