There is little evidence that government’s commitment to pay 80% of undisputed invoices within 5 working days is having the intended effect of helping the UK’s 5 million small and medium-sized enterprises.
The NAO strategy 2015-16 to 2017-18 sets out how our public audit perspective will help Parliament hold government to account and improve public services.
We focus on specific concerns about the financial support provided to students attending some alternative HE colleges and other providers.
The MoJ is on track to make significant and quick reductions in its spending on civil legal aid. But it is less clear to what extent it has met its objective of targeting legal aid at those who need it most.
This review of five major rail projects highlights lessons the Department for Transport should apply to current and future rail programmes.
Fiscal pressure on government departments is set to continue through the next Parliament, with citizen expectations continuing to rise. With the ‘more for less’ challenge continuing indefinitely and an increasingly complex public sector landscape, a strong and integrated finance function across government is crucial.
We published two reports today – Following the discovery of widespread and deep-rooted weaknesses in the government’s management of contracts it is starting to improve how it manages its contracts.
The Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG) has achieved significant savings but further work should be done to improve the process of gathering and collating evidence.
Despite providing substantially increased funding for PIDG (up to £700 million by 2015), the Department has not exercised enough oversight to ensure value for money has been achieved.
The report covers HMRC’s progress in operating the PAYE service, its implementation of its new Real Time Information service and its performance in tax collection and in reducing error and fraud in personal tax credits.
There are some good examples across government of alternatives to regulation being used to achieve policy objectives. However more needs to done to share these examples to highlight when alternatives are most likely to work and how they should be designed.
We welcome the Treasury’s continuing commitment to improving the timeliness and content of the WGA.This will enable the Treasury to manage public finances better.
The NAO, the Better Regulation Executive (BRE) and the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO), both part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have published a survey looking at businesses’ perceptions of regulation.
Our new guide is aimed at helping non-accountant readers of government’s accounts understand better what is being reported in them and what it means.
The provision of adequate adult social care poses a significant public service challenge. Demand for care is rising while public spending is falling.
The National Audit Office has today published a review, which summarizes the main elements of the reform currently under way in the probation sector, and identifies the key issues now facing those involved in probation.
Monitor has achieved value for money in regulating NHS foundation trusts, and has generally been effective in helping trusts in difficulty to improve.
Improvements have been made to the running of the Regional Growth Fund, but there is still a significant amount of public money to allocate through the Fund.
The DfT and Transport for London have done well to protect taxpayers’ interests in Crossrail but risks remain including delivery of the trains.
The new policing oversight framework has been in place for a year but already there are gaps in the system with the potential to undermine accountability both to the Home Office and the public.