The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) are an audited set of accounts showing in one place the financial position of the whole public sector. However, the NAO considers that the picture is incomplete.
Energy bills support successfully protected many people and businesses during 2022 and 2023 from rising energy prices.
A new NAO report sets out the reasons for failures in the government’s energy efficiency scheme for homes.
Key public bodies are insufficiently prepared for a major animal disease outbreak and would likely struggle to cope with one.
The number of NHS and local government bodies with weaknesses in their arrangements for delivering value for money is increasing.
This examines whether the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has achieved the objectives of the UK Green Investment Bank intervention, and whether UK Government Investments has achieved value for money in the subsequent sale of the Bank.
This is our second report on the progress Defra has made in preparing for EU Exit.
Data analytics are a vital tool to tackle fraud and error, but savings so far have been modest compared to the amount potentially achievable.
The Cabinet Office is responsible for the Business Appointment Rules, but has not published any guidelines, and has no oversight of departmental compliance.
This report examines if government is achieving its ambition for the public sector to be a leader in decarbonising its activities.
Government can release resources and improve accountability by tailoring governance and audit requirements for small public bodies.
A National Audit Office report has concluded that two programmes aimed at building capacity in the third sector have had a positive impact on frontline third sector organisations but have not yet demonstrated value for money. Both have suffered from administrative weaknesses and a lack of initial targets against which the effectiveness of the programmes […]
The NAO Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22 provides details about our work and performance.
Following approval by the Public Accounts Commission we have appointed a new non-executive Board member, Alistair Conner.
With charities such as museums and galleries relying increasingly on donations to supplement public grant funding, this report summarises the issues faced and best-practice management of the risks associated with donations as a source of income.
This report aims to evaluate and conclude on HM Treasury’s overall approach to over-indebtedness.
Equity investors have helped to deliver many public sector infrastructure projects via the Private Finance Initiative and have managed them in ways from which the public sector can learn. Against a background of limited information, evidence gathered by the National Audit Office raises concern that the public sector is paying more than it should for equity investment.
DCLG has made good progress in its design of 100% local business rates retention but faces a challenging timescale for delivery.
Optimism bias in public sector projects is not a new phenomenon. But it is one that persists, frequently undermining projects’ value for money as time and cost are under estimated and benefits over estimated. This report uses our back catalogue to illustrate the consequences of over optimism. In doing so, we have identified some contributory factors – such as project complexity and an organisation’s culture of challenge.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas Morse, has for the second successive year qualified his opinion on the financial statements of Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S).