“These reports get to the heart of one of the Government’s key objectives: improving the delivery of public services. We have found many examples of good practice in the organisations we have examined in detail. We have brought these together into one report so that agencies can learn from the success of others.”
“These reports get to the heart of one of the Government’s key objectives: improving the delivery of public services. We have found many examples of good practice in the organisations we have examined in detail. We have brought these together into one report so that agencies can learn from the success of others.”
“It is unacceptable that the very people who are trying to help the sick and injured are themselves subject to violence and aggression on a daily basis. Apart from the immediate impact on the individuals concerned, the experience or threat of violence causes increased stress and sickness absence, lowers staff morale and drives individuals out of the health sector at a time of serious staff shortages. Good progress has been made through the zero tolerance zone campaign, but the NHS needs to demonstrate clear improvement across Trusts in incident follow up, staff training and partnerships with other public agencies.”
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office (NAO), has reported to Parliament on the outcome of financial audit work undertaken by the NAO in central government over the past year. Today’s report examines the progress made by government departments in a number of important areas. In 2001/02 resource accounts became the sole mechanism … Read more
“Older people are major users of public services and many of them find the divisions between service providers confusing. Often those most in need have to contact the largest number of agencies.
“The Government has been successful in finding new ways of developing services for older people that are joined up and avoid duplication. But there is scope to build on this. Improved co-ordination across government on older people’s issues could be addressed by the publication of an Older People strategy. At the same time, Government must ensure it continues to provide feedback to those it consults in order to maintain commitment and to avoid raising expectations that are later undermined”.
“The National Health Service continues to be subject to significant restructuring to be better able to deliver the government’s “NHS Plan” and to use its resources more effectively. Against this background of change, I urge the Department of Health to make every effort to ensure that risk-management arrangements are fully in place and these are operating effectively across the NHS as soon as possible.
“I commend the progress made by the Department in tackling fraud so far and developing an anti-fraud culture within the NHS. However, there is a need for the Department to complete fraud measurement exercises across all areas of NHS expenditure I encourage the Department to take steps as soon as possible to measure the full extent of the fraud being committed and to set new targets to demonstrate the success of their efforts in countering fraud.”
“The Inherited SERPS problem was a major failure of administration which caused anxiety and distress for many people. I welcome the Department’s positive response to the recommendations made by the National Audit Office and the Committee of Public Accounts and the action which the Department have taken so far to reduce the likelihood of such a mistake being made again.
“However, more still needs to be done. It is crucial that the momentum generated over the past two years is maintained if the Department’s customers are to be confident that the information and advice they receive is accurate, timely and delivered in the most appropriate manner.”
“The transfer programme has brought about much-needed improvement in tenants’ homes and most tenants have also benefited from improved housing services. Transfer should be cost neutral for the RSL and the taxpayer’s contribution should enable reasonable promises to be delivered at a viable price. As cost neutrality is difficult to achieve in practice, the Office should look to influence the use of any additional surpluses made by transfer RSLs and steer them towards social housing or wider community objectives.”
The NAO’s report complements a parallel Audit Commission report on how transferring local authorities have carried out their continuing responsibilities for housing. Together, the two reports provide a comprehensive assessment of the success of the transfer programme.
“The accuracy, reliability and fairness of weights and measures is key to ensuring that the products we buy every day are not being sold in short weight or short measure. The Department should press ahead quickly with its plans to modernise legislation, as well as improving its information about local enforcement of that legislation, if it is to be effective in promoting appropriate standards of trading across the country.”
“There are areas, particularly in the management of consumer credit licensing, where the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has been constrained in what it can achieve. The OFT should take full advantage of the opportunities presented by recent consumer protection legislation and the outcome of the Government’s review of consumer credit to improve its performance still further. In this way the OFT can build on the implementation of past recommendations made by myself and the Committee of Public Accounts in its important work of protecting the interests of consumers.”
