An update for the Committee of Public Accounts on the Programme’s progress, including rollout and take-up of superfast broadband under Phase 1 (delivery to 90% of UK premises by December 2016) and comments on initial progress for phase 2.
Under the Scheme, the Treasury guarantees that lenders to infrastructure projects will be repaid in full and on time, irrespective of project performance. The NAO is calling for the Treasury to be rigorous and objective in assessing whether the guarantees, which transfer risk to the public sector, are genuinely needed.
There is little evidence that government’s commitment to pay 80% of undisputed invoices within 5 working days is having the intended effect of helping the UK’s 5 million small and medium-sized enterprises.
Local authorities have worked hard to manage reductions in government funding, but the DCLG needs to be better informed about the situation across England.
Local authorities have worked hard to manage reductions in government funding, but the DCLG needs to be better informed about the situation across England.
Despite providing substantially increased funding for PIDG (up to £700 million by 2015), the Department has not exercised enough oversight to ensure value for money has been achieved.
There are some good examples across government of alternatives to regulation being used to achieve policy objectives. However more needs to done to share these examples to highlight when alternatives are most likely to work and how they should be designed.
Improvements have been made to the running of the Regional Growth Fund, but there is still a significant amount of public money to allocate through the Fund.
It has not yet been demonstrated that funding mechanisms for supporting local economic growth are capable of delivering value for money.
The range of government initiatives to help small and medium businesses gain access to finance are not operating as a unified programme.