Communication with academy auditors 2016
The Department for Education is revising the way that consolidated financial information for the academies sector is reported to Parliament.
31 Oct 2016
The Department for Education is revising the way that consolidated financial information for the academies sector is reported to Parliament.
This investigation focuses on how the Department for Education identified and managed a potential conflict of interest between the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families and a company called Morning Lane Associates.
The Department for Education recognised since 2010 that child protection services are not good enough but its subsequent response has not yet resulted in better outcomes. Spending on children’s social work, including on child protection, varies widely across England and is not related to quality. Neither the DfE nor authorities understand why spending varies.
The Department for Education should set out the planned overall impact of the programme on productivity and growth.
Amyas Morse, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), has provided an adverse opinion on the truth and fairness of the Department for Education’s group financial statements.
The Department for Business, Skills and Innovation has not used good quality information to decide which science capital projects to invest in to optimise scientific and economic benefits.
Significant progress has been made in providing 15 hours of free childcare to parents of 3- and 4-year olds, but the Department of Education has not yet achieved full value for money
The government needs to do more to demonstrate how new arrangements for training new teachers are improving the quality of teaching in classrooms.
Kids Company, a children’s charity, received at least £46m of public funding. Officials raised concerns about the charity’s cash flow and financial sustainability at least 6 times between 2002 and 2015 but the charity never reached a position where it was able to operate without government assistance.
This impacts case study shows how our reporting of shortfalls in careers advice, echoed by the education sector, prompted the Department for Education to announce a new company to drive improvements.
It is one example of financial or non-financial benefits realised in 2014 as a result of our involvement, all of which are set out in our interactive PDF.