The Department for Work and Pensions has made good progress in tackling benefit fraud, which is estimated to have fallen from an estimated £2 billion in 2000-01 to £800 million in 2006-07, a substantial achievement by its staff, although definitional changes have helped. Tackling benefit fraud is inherently difficult as it is in the nature […]
The UK bears the ultimate risk of potential liabilities from its overseas territories such as Anguilla, Montserrat and the Falkland Islands; and, while progress has been made in managing and mitigating these risks since the last report by the National Audit Office in 1997, there is room for improvement, the NAO has reported today. The […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, today published a report on HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) accounts for the year 2005-2006. HMRC collected total revenue of some £404 billion. For the fourth year running, Sir John has qualified his opinion on the Trust Statement in respect of tax credits because of the likely level […]
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and 24 of the organisations it sponsors spend over £40 million a year on 95 offices across England. In a report to Parliament today Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, says that better management of this office accommodation could lead to savings. The Department sponsors […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today on the support provided to MG Rover by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and other public bodies before and during the Company’s collapse in 2005, and on the effectiveness of plans to deal with and mitigate the consequences of the firm’s closure. […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today on the complexity of the benefits system, which he considers is one of the most important issues affecting the performance of the Department for Work and Pensions. According to the report to Parliament, tackling the problems associated with a complex system requires a systematic […]
Passengers’ satisfaction with Britain’s railway stations has improved a little in recent years, but remains low for many stations and for many of the facilities provided at them, according to a report by the National Audit Office. There are also increasing passenger capacity pressures at some of the largest stations during peak periods. There is […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that the Home Office’s Immigration and Nationality Directorate has increased its capacity for removing failed asylum applicants but the number of people removed or returning voluntarily each month is still less than the number of unsuccessful cases (Based on the period April to December […]
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 […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that it could be made easier for citizens to seek redress for potential mistakes made by government organisations; and that greater efficiency in how those government organisations deal with complaints and appeals could bring significant savings. In 2003-04, citizens made over 1.4 million complaints […]
New trains on Britain’s railways are bringing significant benefits to passengers, according to a report by the National Audit Office. Most have been late entering service, however, and it is unlikely that the statutory deadline of December 2004 for removing all the oldest slam-door trains from the network will be met. Lack of capacity to […]
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn today reported to Parliament on the propriety of the Department of Health’s award of a contract to PowderJect Pharmaceuticals to supply smallpox vaccine. The report also covers the procedures followed by the Department in purchasing emergency supplies of smallpox and anthrax vaccine; and the Department’s general […]
The Department for Work and Pensions have taken reasonable and appropriate action to deal with the Inherited SERPS problem and have made considerable progress in improving their organisation and systems for dealing with the public, according to a report presented to Parliament today by Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office. The provision […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today welcomed progress made by the Prison Service in introducing programmes designed to help reduce the risk of reoffending but said there needs to be greater consistency in their provision across prisons. Currently around 58 per cent of prisoners are reconvicted within two years of being […]
The Inland Revenue, when required to make major enhancements to its national insurance computer system (NIRS 2) to accommodate significant legislative changes, decided to award a contract extension to Accenture, its existing supplier. And, according to a report from the National Audit Office, published today, the contract extension: offered better value for money than the […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today told Parliament that defence equipment acquisition was an inherently complex and often expensive task. Co-operation adds another layer of complexity. It also offers potential economic, military, industrial and political benefits but in the past not all of these have been secured. Recent initiatives from the […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that the failure to introduce the Benefits Payment Card had cost the Department of Social Security some £127 million in nugatory system development. Delays in the Card programme, which was part of a pioneering Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project designed also to […]
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 […]
A 10 year failure to update pensions leaflets correctly has caused considerable distress to many thousands of people, and will cost the taxpayer at least £2.5 billion, and probably considerably more, according to two reports to Parliament published today. The two reports* – one by Sir John Bourn, the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the […]
Section 161 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 requires me to examine and certify the National Insurance Fund Account and this report records the results of my examination of the 1998-99 account.