The Department has committed electricity consumers and taxpayers to a high cost and risky deal in a changing energy marketplace. We cannot say the Department has maximised the chances that it will achieve value for money.
HS2 is a large, complex and ambitious programme which is facing cost and time pressures. The unrealistic timetable set for HS2 Ltd by the Department means they are not as ready to deliver as they hoped to be at this point.
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 incentives on government Accounting Officers to prioritise value for money are weak compared to those associated with the day-to-day job of satisfying Ministers.
An update report by the NAO identifies that the government has secured gains of £137 million from PFI debt refinancings under new arrangements introduced by the Treasury in 2002. These new arrangements followed previous reports by the NAO and the Public Accounts Committee that highlighted the opportunities for the private sector to benefit from refinancing […]