Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that the Department for Work and Pensions provides an effective range of support that helps thousands of disabled people find employment each year. However more needs to be done to increase the number of people assisted into work and to help many of those […]
The National Audit Office’s report finds that London & Continental Railways (LCR) successfully completed the construction of Section 1 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) on time and at a cost slightly below the target set in the 1998 restructuring. Drawing on the reasons for this achievement, the NAO report highlights lessons for other […]
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, reported today that the Ministry of Defence is successfully introducing new management and contractual arrangements to deliver a better quality estate and has embarked on a major programme of estate rationalisation. However, more needs to be done to ensure that the benefits of these changes are […]
Overview The National Audit Office published today its “gold standard” for project control of major defence projects. This aims to help the MoD improve its performance in delivering projects on time and to budget. It forms part of a second in a suite of studies exploring key project success factors and how the MoD and […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that the Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) initiative, launched in 2001, is an effective means of improving primary health and social care. The LIFT model has a number of strengths: it takes a long term strategic approach to local health provision which combines the […]
The National Audit Office reported today that, four years into the 10-year NHS Cancer Plan, substantial progress has been made in meeting the Plan’s targets. The thirty-four cancer networks which have been established have achieved important improvements in delivering cancer services across England. However, the networks need to be more effective and to develop partnership […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament on the £1.2 billion expansion of the PRIME contract, that DWP had succeeded in getting the deal it had set out to achieve. The decision to proceed via a non-competitive negotiation with LST was the right one. DWP introduced competitive tension into […]
There has been notable progress at trust level in putting systems and processes in place and strengthening infection control teams to improve the prevention and control of hospital acquired infection, but the NHS still does not have enough information on the extent and cost of hospital acquired infection. These are the principal findings of a […]
The Immigration and Nationality Directorate and the Immigration Appellate Authority have increased the speed of the asylum decision-making process but further improvements can be made, with consequent savings in support and accommodation costs The Immigration and Nationality Directorate also needs to make further improvements to the quality of decision-making, according to a report to Parliament by the […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today published a report on Network Rail which sets out a number of challenges which need to be addressed to improve the management of the rail network. Although Network Rail is making progress, its governance is complex and the support of all parties involved in the […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office today reported to Parliament on the £1.5 billion Strategic Transfer of the Estate to the Private Sector (STEPS) PFI deal entered into by Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise with a private sector consortium known as Mapeley STEPS. The deal incorporates the transfer of the ownership […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that the Government’s investment in space, coordinated by the British National Space Centre (BNSC) Partnership, has a number of strengths, including lean, user-focused programmes built up from wide consultation, many of which have produced important scientific and commercial benefits. There is scope, however, to […]
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 […]
Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that although he had qualified his audit opinion on whether the Ministry of Defence’s Resource Accounts for 2002-03 presented a true and fair view, the Department had made further improvements since 2001-02. And he reported that the Department continues to make good […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that GCHQs new headquarter building, which will cost GCHQ about 46 million a year, and which was procured through a PFI deal, was on track to be delivered on time and within its finally determined budget; and it was handled well overall. […]
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 […]
Sir John Bourn, the head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that the Prison Service has made good progress in improving its procurement of goods and services but that scope exists for further financial savings to be made. Performance in monitoring and controlling the consumption of goods and use of services and […]
In recent years the Highways Agency has improved the condition of England’s motorway and trunk roads network and has also strengthened the management and delivery of its maintenance programme. But, according to a National Audit Office report, there is scope for the Agency to make further improvements in measuring the condition of the network, targeting […]
The successful commercialisation of intellectual property in agricultural research requires identifying the best opportunities for commercial exploitation of publicly financed research; obtaining further funds to develop and protect ideas; and managing risks when making deals and establishing spin-out companies. These points are brought out in a National Audit Office report today on the performance of […]