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  1. Ofsted’s inspection of schools

    Press release

    Published on:

    This report examines whether Ofsted’s approach to inspecting schools is providing value for money. We assessed Ofsted’s role, performance and impact.

  2. Refinancing the Public Private Partnership for National Air Traffic Services

    Report Value for money

    Published on:

    Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that the refinancing of the public private partnership for NATS, completed late last year, has put the Company on a much more robust financial footing, enabling it to make further vital investment to expand the capacity of Air Traffic Control to meet future growth […]

  3. Office for National Statistics: Outsourcing the 2001 Census

    Report Value for money

    Published on:

    Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today on the difficulties faced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in outsourcing elements of the 2001 Census. The Census is expected to deliver good quality population data within the overall budget of £207 million. However, the appointment of professional advisors was […]

  4. Department of Education and Skills – Connexions Service for all Young People

    Report Value for money

    Published on:

    Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn today reported on the Connexions Service, concluding that it is a radical change in the delivery of advice and guidance to young people and is on target to meeting its major objective of reducing the proportion of 16- to 18-year olds not in education, employment or […]

  5. Transforming performance of HM Customs and Excise through electronic service delivery

    Report Value for money

    Published on:

    Also available: Incentivization of e-government (404 kb). HM Customs and Excise’s major programme to use e-technology to improve the efficiency of their business operations and services, although at an early stage, is already showing signs of being able to transform the department’s performance. However, today’s report to Parliament by head of the National Audit Office […]

  8. The PFI Contract for the redevelopment of West Middlesex University Hospital

    Report Value for money

    Published on:

    The redevelopment of the West Middlesex hospital should assist the NHS in delivering modern, high quality healthcare in London, Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office reported to Parliament today. As a result of letting a 35 year PFI contract with a net present value of £125 million to the Bywest consortium, the […]

  9. Modernising procurement

    Report Value for money

    Published on:

    Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament on Government procurement. Some 1,500 staff spend some £13billion each year on civil procurement across government. Procurement is therefore big business and getting it right is central to the management of any organisation. The report focuses on the scope for improved procurement […]

  10. The Operational Performance of PFI Prisons

    Report Value for money

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    Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that the seven operational PFI prisons are bringing benefits to the Prison Service. One of the key benefits is that the existence of PFI prisons has encouraged the public sector to improve its performance. For instance, Prison Service management teams have recently […]

  13. Early Years: Progress in Developing High Quality Childcare and Early Education Accessible to All

    Report Value for money

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    Nearly 100,000 new childcare places have been created for pre-school children since 1998 and the Government is on course to meet its targets for the provision of free part-time early education for three- and four-year-olds. But Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that more needs to be done to ensure […]

  14. Purchasing Professional Services

    Report Value for money

    Published on:

    How government departments can get better value for money from the £600 million they spend each year on professional services from suppliers of specialist expertise advice and assistance is highlighted today in a National Audit Office report. It concludes that value for money improvements of at least 10 per cent (£60 million) are achievable.   […]

  15. Community Legal Service: the introduction of contracting

    Report Value for money

    Published on:

    The introduction of new arrangements in 2000 for the funding of civil legal aid has led to better scrutiny by the Legal Services Commission of the work of its suppliers and a greater degree of control over the civil legal aid budget, according to Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office. As the […]

  16. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions: The Channel Tunnel Rail Link

    Report Value for money

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    Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that although the Private Finance Initiative deal for the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link was in many respects unique, the lessons to be learned from the project’s near collapse are not. The report makes three key points. In negotiating with the […]

  17. Innovation in PFI Financing: The Treasury Building Project

    Report Value for money

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    Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the funding competition used to finance the refurbishment of the Treasury building in Whitehall saved the taxpayer £13 million. The competition resulted in savings of 7% of the cost of the deal over the lifetime of the project and assisted greatly in […]

  18. The Ministry of Defence’s arrangement with Annington Property Limited

    Press release

    Published on:

    The Ministry of Defence (the Department) has committed itself to annual rental bills of nearly £200 million and lost out on billions of pounds of asset value as a result of selling and leasing back the majority of its married quarters estate to Annington Property Limited in 1996 because of the subsequent steep increase in house prices and rents.

  19. PPP in practice: National Savings and Investments’ deal with Siemens Business Services, four years on

    Report Value for money

    Published on:

    The PPP deal between National Savings and Investments (NS&I) and Siemens Business Services has improved customer service and has contributed to savings for the taxpayer, Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today. However, Siemens Business Services and NS&I underestimated the challenge involved. Siemens Business Services has encountered a number of problems […]