Many NHS trusts need to tackle a range of financial, quality and governance issues if they are to meet the standards required of them to become self-governing foundation trusts by 2014. The Department of Health and the NHS will now have to decide how they will deal with those facing the most severe problems.
Shortcomings must be addressed if value for money is to be secured in the future for users of social care “personal budgets” once they are extended to all eligible users by April 2013.
The project to replace the 46 Fire and Rescue Services’ local control rooms across England with nine purpose-built regional control centres linked by a new IT system has been a comprehensive failure, according to the National Audit Office. The Department for Communities and Local Government acted to cut its losses by terminating the contract in […]
Unfair treatment of consumers, ranging from pressure selling to systematic scams by criminals, is costing billions of pounds each year – but the system for enforcing consumer law is not delivering value for money.
Firebuy, established by the Department for Communities and Local Government to support procurement of kit by Fire and Rescue Services, has cost nearly twice as much to set up and run as the total savings it claims to have delivered.
With projected demand falling and costs of carriages rising, there are risks to value for money from plans to increase capacity on the rail network.
A report by the NAO into government action to tackle problem drug use has concluded that there has been good progress in a number of areas, including an increasing number of problem drug users in effective treatment and an increasing number leaving treatment free from dependency. Without an evaluative framework for the Strategy as a […]
The Department of Health’s strategy for stroke care has increased the priority and awareness of the condition and started to improve patients’ care and outcomes, concludes a report by the National Audit Office published today. Actions taken since 2006 have improved the value for money of stroke care; but improvements have not been universal and […]
In a report published today, the National Audit Office has found that the Post Office Network Change Programme has largely met its targets and complied with the undertakings given by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. However, the implementation of some of the new Outreach services, planned for 500 locations where conventional post […]
The National Audit Office has reported today that Government departments and local health and social care organisations do not have enough information on numbers of adults with autism. They also lack a full understanding and awareness of the condition, limiting their ability to plan and deliver services effectively. Autism, which includes Asperger syndrome, is a […]
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has made progress in improving its financial management, with strong commitment at senior management and board level, according to a National Audit Office report today. The Department’s ability to reach a high standard of financial management depends partly on successful working with local authorities, other partner organisations, and […]
The majority of carers who receive benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are satisfied with the support they receive, worth up to £2 billion a year. The Department is delivering carers’ benefits effectively and has made improvements in processing claims in the last few years. But at least a fifth have difficulties […]
A report out today by the National Audit Office found that navigating complaints systems is not straightforward, particularly for health service users, and handling some complaints takes too long. There is little sharing of lessons from complaints or evidence that services are improving as a result. Some 133,600 NHS and 17,100 social care complaints were […]
The Jobcentre Plus programme rolled out a network of over 800 offices, combining the functions of the former jobcentres and social security offices, and was completed for £314 million less than the original £2.2 billion budget according to a National Audit Office report released today. The project was well managed, particularly the procurement aspect, where […]
The NAO has reported today that, despite some progress, there is still a significant gap between the employment rate for the ethnic minority population and that for the general population which could take thirty years to eliminate. The Department for Work and Pensions’ strategy to tackle this has had some success, but in the NAO’s […]
Evidence from 12 large national charities shows that their delivery of public services could be undermined and limited by the complexity of the arrangements by which they receive public funding. Today’s report by the National Audit Office found that charities’ funding relationships with public bodies, including central government departments, local authorities and health trusts can […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, today issued his audit certificate on HM Revenue & Customs 2006-07 Trust Statement of revenues. Sir John was able to issue an unqualified audit opinion on the truth and fairness of the Trust Statement, but in common with 2005-06, issued a qualified opinion on regularity due to levels […]
Full cost recovery remains an important principle for financial relationships between government and the third sector, but government departments have found difficulties in translating the principle into practice, according to a review published today by the National Audit Office. Today’s review examines the progress made by central government departments in ensuring that, by April 2006, […]
The National Audit Office has today called for a step change improvement in how central government departments work with each other and with regional and local bodies, if the Government’s ambitious aspirations for the Thames Gateway region are to be realised. The Government has set out its vision to make the Thames Gateway, the area […]
Making forms and guidance easier to obtain and understand should help to reduce the unintentional errors by taxpayers and result in more accurate tax assessments. A report from the National Audit Office today proposes improvements which build on changes already introduced by HM Revenue & Customs. Taxpayers can obtain forms and guidance from HM Revenue […]