Income tax is processed accurately in the majority of cases by HM Revenue & Customs, but errors in processing lead to the wrong amount of tax being paid by around 1 million taxpayers, the NAO says today. In a new report to Parliament, the spending watchdog points out that HMRC accurately calculates the right amount […]
Most government departments are continuing to produce high quality accounts and are presenting them for audit in a timely fashion. However, Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, had to issue qualified opinions on seven out of 54 sets of departmental resource accounts in 2005-06, compared with two out of 54 sets in […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that, halfway into the three-year efficiency programme, government departments have reported £13.3 billion in annual efficiency savings, 62 per cent of the £21.5 billion target. But departments’ progress towards achieving their individual targets varies, indicating that some departments still have a lot […]
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 […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that payments, amounting to £233,000, which the Public Health Laboratory Service Board made to certain members of staff in 2004-05 did not comply with Treasury guidelines. In the course of closing PHLS Media Services, the Board retained a small number of individuals […]
The UK has levels of social security fraud and error which are similar to those in comparable countries, but the Department for Work and Pensions has a better understanding than other nations of the problems and is doing more to tackle them. A report by the National Audit Office, based on research carried out by […]
The Child Support Reforms introduced in 2003 were a final but, in the event, unsuccessful attempt to deliver the policy behind the creation of the Child Support Agency in 1993. With hindsight the Child Support Agency was never structured in a way that would enable the policy to be delivered cost-effectively. While the Reforms have […]
Substantial savings, in addition to the significant improvements already achieved, could be made by more efficient management and purchasing of postal services by the public sector, according to a report by Parliament’s spending watchdog. The National Audit Office has found that an estimated £31 million a year could be saved across the public sector by […]
Clarification Point 2 in the C&AG introduction (page 26), should read: “From April 2003 an additional one per cent National Insurance contribution has been collected and allocated directly to the National Health Service, bringing the total payments to the NHS to some £16.8 billion in 2004-2005 (£14.9 billion in 2003-2004).” Head of the National Audit […]
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 […]
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn today reported to Parliament on the National Insurance Fund (GB) account 2003-2004. This account is the responsibility of the Inland Revenue and benefit payments are made from the Fund by the Department for Work and Pensions. Sir John has qualified the National Insurance Fund Account in […]
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn has qualified the Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund Account for 2002-03 because of the estimated high level of benefit being lost through fraud and error. This is the third year running for which Sir John has qualified his opinion on the account. The Northern Ireland Department […]
HM Customs and Excise have increased their efforts to tackle losses from fraud and error on VAT, which in 2002-2003 they estimated at £11.9 billion. This was an increase over the £10.6 billion they estimate to have been lost in 2001-2002, but there are signs of improvement with a reduction in one of the most […]
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn today reported to Parliament on the National Insurance Fund account for 2002-03. His examination indicates that, in total, the level of fraud and error in National Insurance Fund benefits was significantly less than one per cent of expenditure. Sir John was therefore able to give an […]
Following reforms to decision-making and the appeal process in social security benefits, introduced in 1999 by the Department for Work and Pensions, the number of appeals against decisions has fallen overall by around 15 per cent and waiting times for appeal hearings have been cut. Since the reforms, decision-making performance for some benefits, but not […]
Government forms filled in by citizens can be made shorter and much easier to use leading to better access to services and considerable efficiency gains, Sir John Bourn, the head of the NAO, reported to Parliament today. Forms remain essential to the delivery of a wide range of government services. If forms are well designed […]
The head of the National Audit Office, Sir John Bourn, today reported to Parliament that the Department for Work and Pensions and their contractor Schlumberger have improved arrangements for the medical assessment of benefit claims since the National Audit Office reported on this subject in 2001. They have improved the speed of processing, the standard […]
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn has qualified his opinion on the Child Support Agency’s account for the ninth year running because of historical high levels of error in maintenance assessments. Reporting to Parliament today, Sir John said that he had taken this action because, on the basis of his examination of […]
Head of the National Audit Office, Sir John Bourn, reported today that the Government had made good progress in the development of policy for older people, but should build on this, in particular, by publishing an overall strategy to co-ordinate work across departments, and by ensuring better feedback to older people on how services are […]
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn has published a report following his examination of each of the twenty three summarised accounts for the NHS in England. Today’s report draws attention to a number of issues, including the NHS’s overall financial performance, developments in accounting and internal control, fraud, and clinical negligence liabilities. […]