“My report recognises the considerable achievement that has been made delivering over 800 centres to a high quality standard, under budget. The project team controlled costs effectively and achieved savings against the budget – for example by introducing better procurement arrangements. There are lessons here for other Government departments undertaking major procurement projects.”
“The Agency looks after some 5,000 acres of green space in London and there is much to be praised in the work it does. This report identifies ways in which the Agency can sharpen up the management of the Parks. The Parks are a valued feature of London life, and it is important to learn from, and contribute to, all that is happening in parks in the rest of the country and indeed the rest of the world.”
The programme to make superfast broadband widely available in each area of the UK is currently expected to be delivered nearly two years later than planned.
The sale of Eurostar generated proceeds of £757m. The government prepared well for the sale and achieved its objectives to maximise proceeds. The sale illustrates some general lessons for government as it embarks on its asset sales programme.
“In designing and implementing the gold sales programme so far the Treasury has done well. In its further review of the programme the Treasury should consider whether there are opportunities to strengthen the handling of the sales further.”
This report considers the value for money of the sale of student loans that entered repayment between 2002 & 2006.
“The Government sold its stake in British Energy when energy prices were at a peak, and got a good price. The biggest priority for the Government was, however, to ensure new nuclear power stations could be built from the earliest possible date and with no public subsidy. Whether it will achieve this remains to be seen. The Department of Energy and Climate Change now needs to make real progress on its contingency plans should EDF be unwilling to build new nuclear power stations.”
Sir John Bourn, the head of the National Audit Office, reported to the Scottish Parliament today that there is scope to improve the responsiveness of accident and emergency ambulance services in Scotland and the impact they have on the healthcare of patients. The Scottish Ambulance Service are responsible for ambulance services across Scotland. Their emergency … Read more
The Scottish Executive and other Scottish public bodies have responded positively to a range of recommendations arising from value for money work on Scottish matters in the last two years, Sir John Bourn head of the National Audit Office reported to the Scottish Parliament today. Sir John’s report brings together the results of seven previously … Read more
“Despite the Shareholder Executive’s limited powers, it has up to now provided good value for money to parliament and the taxpayer. The Executive has gone a long way in improving how government acts as a shareholder and should be commended for this.
“However, a number of barriers have been identified that could lead to future inefficiencies; and improvements could be made to the way in which the Executive’s performance is measured. The Government should take on board our recommendations if it is to build on its early work and set stretching targets for increasing the value of all public sector businesses”
