The New Homes Bonus
The NAO believes a review of the New Homes Bonus scheme is essential to ensure the Department understands the substantial financial risks to local authorities.
27 Mar 2013
The NAO believes a review of the New Homes Bonus scheme is essential to ensure the Department understands the substantial financial risks to local authorities.
“The Regional Development Agencies’ efforts to encourage economic growth through a programme of physical regeneration have delivered real benefits. It is questionable, however, whether they could not have achieved even greater benefits from the £5 billion they have committed. It is important that the RDAs establish better appraisal and evaluation methods to identify the projects which are most beneficial and then target their funding accordingly.”
“Once the downturn was apparent, the Government and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills were under considerable pressure to act quickly and offer targeted support to businesses. The Department did well to balance the needs of businesses with protecting the taxpayer. However, it did not set out clear objectives, nor did it consistently record costs.
In the current fragile economic climate, the Department should consider the potential impact on business confidence as support begins to be withdrawn. In particular, it should consider action that could be taken to reduce any adverse effects and, if recovery falters, the circumstances in which support might be extended.”