This overview of the NAO’s work on the government’s management of contracting examines subjects including the government’s commercial capability, accountability and transparency, and its management of contracted-out service delivery.
Until the government is able to establish effective oversight of the modern slavery system as a whole, it will not be able to significantly reduce the prevalence of modern slavery or show that it is achieving value for money.
Our interactive data visualisation gives you a greater insight into the challenges faced by local authorities.
If the government is serious about increasing its use of small and medium – sized enterprises (SMEs), it will need to focus on those areas where SMEs can deliver real benefits.
The Olympic Delivery Authority remains on course to deliver its work on the Olympic Park successfully. But almost all of the Public Sector Funding Package is likely to be required, with little scope for unforeseen costs to emerge in the eight months left.
Government is taking longer than it should to appoint non-executive directors (NED) to public positions, and these delays can leave gaps on boards, creating risks to governance, and reducing the number of high-quality candidates.
Sellafield nuclear site is not yet achieving value for money due to concerns over project management, the pace of delivery and staffing.
The Government has committed £933 million from the Libor Fund, but cannot yet confirm that all the money has been used as intended.
The dental recovery plan, launched in February 2024, is unlikely deliver an additional 1.5 million treatments by March 2025.
There are risks to the long-term effectiveness of a new policy to make sure developers protect or improve biodiversity
The role and remit of Local Enterprise Partnerships has grown since 2010, but the approach taken by DCLG to overseeing Growth Deals risks future value for money.
Full cost recovery remains an important principle for financial relationships between government and the third sector, but government departments have found difficulties in translating the principle into practice, according to a review published today by the National Audit Office. Today’s review examines the progress made by central government departments in ensuring that, by April 2006, […]
This report examines whether the government secured financial sustainability across the local authority sector during COVID-19.
The progress made by a programme to modernise the Disclosure and Barring Service.
This report examines the progress made in improving the timeliness of auditor reporting on English local public bodies’ financial statements. Delays in completing audited accounts can have significant implications for local accountability and the effective management of public money.
The government is selling assets on an unprecedented scale but, given the equally large scale of its new loans and other initiatives, the overall projected net effect is a £200m increase in borrowing.
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office (NAO), reported today that substantial improvements are needed in the way government departments provide funding to Third Sector Organisations (TSOs) to deliver public services. A 2002 Treasury Review made numerous recommendations aimed at improving funding practices relating to TSOs. These recommendations have in the main been […]
This study assesses the effectiveness of the government’s activity to combat fraud.
This investigation sets out how HMRC introduced the 2017 IR35 reforms, and what lessons it has learned and taken forward.
In December 2015 a five year contract, worth around £800 million between UnitingCare Partnership and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough clinical commissioning group collapsed after only 8 months because it ran into financial difficulties. NAO examined the design, procurement and operation of the contract and the events that led to its termination.