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Visa Entry to the United Kingdom: The Entry Clearance Operation

“It is government policy to facilitate entry of those qualifying for visas as quickly and simply as possible while turning away unqualified applicants. Entry clearance staff have done much to achieve ease of entry. Adequacy of controls has been more difficult to achieve because there is no comprehensive feedback on whether visa entry conditions are obeyed by those receiving them; nevertheless improvements are possible even so and are recommended in this report.”

Sector(s): Borders and immigration

Published:
17 Jun 2004

VisitBritain: Bringing visitors to Britain

“The tourist industry is a significant income-earner and employer in Great Britain. VisitBritain deserves much credit for the support it provides through professional and well executed marketing activities which clearly generate high returns. However, VisitBritain now needs to focus even more on emerging markets where Great Britain can be energetically promoted as a most attractive tourist destination.”

Sector(s): Arts, media and sport

Published:
12 Nov 2004

Vote on account 2008-2009

Sector(s): National Audit Office

Published:
21 Nov 2007

Vulnerable consumers in regulated industries

Regulators and government need to work together better to ensure that vulnerable consumers get the support they need.

Sector(s): Regulation, consumers and competition

Performance Improvement area(s): Customer management, Regulation, User choice and consumer protection

Department(s): Ofgem, Ofqual, Ofsted

Published:
31 Mar 2017

Warm Front: Helping to Combat Fuel Poverty

“The Warm Front Scheme makes a difference to the warmth and fuel bills of so many people.

“However, more could be done to help those households most in need by reducing expenditure on measures which have limited impact on fuel costs and on homes which are already energy efficient. And funds should be redirected to better assist, for example, those in ‘hard to treat’ homes such as those not connected to mains gas or without cavity walls.”

Sector(s): Energy and environment

Published:
25 Jun 2003

Welfare reform – lessons learned

It is important that the DWP use the hard lessons it learned from implementing its recent programme of welfare reforms to improve how it manages change and anticipates risk.

Sector(s): Welfare, Pensions and Employment

Performance Improvement area(s): Customer management, Managing major projects, Transforming public services

Department(s): Department for Work and Pensions

Published:
29 May 2015

Welfare to Work: Tackling the Barriers to the Employment of Older People

“Good progress has been made in increasing the employment rate for older people. As people are living longer it is important that they have better opportunities to continue working for longer, should they wish to do so, than has been the case in the past. There is scope for government agencies to focus their efforts on improving the employability of older people and for targeting disadvantaged groups. Success will bring benefits not only for the individual, but also for business, the taxpayer and the economy at large.”

Sector(s): Energy and environment, Welfare, Pensions and Employment

Published:
15 Sep 2004

Widening participation in higher education

“Not enough is known about the extent to which disadvantaged groups are under-represented in higher education, or what measures to widen participation are most effective. The Department and the Funding Council need to secure better data on participation, for example by social class or disability. They could tailor provision more closely to people’s circumstances, such as where they live and when they can study.”

Sector(s): Education and skills

Published:
25 Jun 2008

Widening participation in higher education in England

Student achievement rates in English higher education institutions have remained high during a period of considerable expansion of student numbers, although rates vary widely between institutions. The higher education sector will have to recruit and retain more students from hitherto poorly represented social groups and help them to succeed if the government’s learning targets are … Read more

Sector(s): Education and skills

Published:
18 Jan 2002

Winding-up the New Millennium Experience Company Limited

“The process of winding-up the affairs of The New Millennium Experience Company was extremely challenging, particularly given the complexity and scale of the operation. But I am pleased to say that the preparations required before the appointment of the liquidators were accomplished successfully and, on entering voluntary liquidation, NMEC was in better financial shape than when I last reported.”