Framework to review programmes update April 2021
This review suggests key questions to ask when reviewing major programmes.
20 Apr 2021
Major public projects in the Government's current major projects portfolio are expected to cost over £450bn. There are also many other projects across government. This huge investment of taxpayers' money needs to be spent well. Managing these projects also brings major challenges because they are so long, complex, technically difficult, and are often part of high profile and high-risk transformation of public services.
These projects can also compete with each other for resources, equipment and skills. This means government needs to make sure that the timing of different projects is coordinated - especially as competition for resources can increase costs. One project can depend on the outcomes of another, making coordination and management still harder.
To make sure that these projects are affordable and successful, government needs much stronger project management skills and it needs to make more accurate cost and time estimates. It also needs to improve its ability to identify and manage both risks and the impact of external events.
Key NAO publications:
This review suggests key questions to ask when reviewing major programmes.
This report looks at how effectively government met the needs of clinically extremely vulnerable through the shielding programme.
This study will look at the progress of Crossrail since the NAO last reported in May 2019.
This interim report provides an overview of test and trace services for addressing COVID-19 in England.
This report examines the Digital Services at the Border programme to assess whether it has delivered value for money.
This report applies experience from auditing cross-government challenges to highlight the risks government needs to manage to achieve net zero.
Over many years the NAO has reported on delays and cost overruns across significant Ministry of Defence (MoD) equipment procurement programmes, such as boats 4-7 of the Astute attack submarine (£1 billion over budget) and the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers (£2.75 billion over budget). Our recent report Defence Capabilities: delivering what was promised, found that … Read more
This report examines lessons from our work on major programmes, including transport, defence and energy programmes.
This report examines how government has set itself up to deliver its long-term environmental goals.
This report considers what the Superfast Broadband Programme has delivered and the lessons for government’s roll-out of nationwide gigabit broadband.