The National Audit Office reported today that, four years into the 10-year NHS Cancer Plan, substantial progress has been made in meeting the Plan’s targets. The thirty-four cancer networks which have been established have achieved important improvements in delivering cancer services across England. However, the networks need to be more effective and to develop partnership […]
The FCO has made significant improvements in the consular service it provides, but further progress is needed to deliver a service which meets the changing needs of Britons overseas, according to a National Audit Office report. The main elements of consular services are advising on overseas travel, issuing passports abroad and assisting Britons in distress […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that he had identified five critical issues which departments must pay careful attention to if the extra £61 billion spent on improving public services over the next three years is to have its full impact. It is too early to tell whether […]
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 […]
Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the funding competition used to finance the refurbishment of the Treasury building in Whitehall saved the taxpayer £13 million. The competition resulted in savings of 7% of the cost of the deal over the lifetime of the project and assisted greatly in […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament that properly planned and managed risk taking by government departments can promote innovation and lead to improved value for money for taxpayers. Departments are increasingly considering how best to devise and implement effective risk management strategies. By September 2000, all departments must […]
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 […]
Sir John Bourn, the head of the National Audit Office, has qualified his opinion on the 1999-2000 accounts of the Ordnance Survey, the government Agency responsible for the official mapping of Great Britain. In his report to Parliament on the Agency’s first set of accounts as a Trading Fund, Sir John said that he had […]
The Department for International Development responds to the international HIV/AIDS epidemic on a wide number of fronts, and has increased its expenditure in this area in recent years. It has also recently announced an intensified effort to address the epidemic, one of the major threats to international development goals. A National Audit Office report has […]
Winding-up the affairs of The New Millennium Experience Company Limited (NMEC) was handled in a professional way, Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today. Getting NMEC into the position where it was able to go in a solvent state into voluntary liquidation on 18 December 2001 was a major task. […]
The Government has set challenging targets for public services to be delivered to citizens electronically as part of the wider Modernising Government agenda. The Prime Minister pledged that by 2002 a quarter of all transactions between citizens and government should be capable of being conducted ‘electronically’, rising to 50% by 2005 and 100% by 2008. […]
This briefing has been prepared for the Treasury Select Committee (the Committee) to provide an overview of the work and performance of HM Treasury in the financial year 2007-08 and subsequent months. This briefing focuses upon the Treasury’s internal management and its financial position as a department in its own right.
The acquisition of the Heart Hospital represented an entrepreneurial and novel approach to improving patient services, Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today. The NHS acted quickly to take advantage of an unusual opportunity and acquired the hospital and its equipment at a good price. Activities at the Heart […]
The Ministry of Defence has done much to improve the management of the major repair and overhaul of land equipment but there is more to do, including addressing the future role and shape of its in-house provider, the Army Base Repair Organisation (ABRO), Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today. […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office (NAO), told Parliament today that the Prison Service had secured £1 million of the expected £10.7 million increase in returns to shareholders of Fazakerley Prison Services Limited, following the refinancing of the Fazakerley prison contract let under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). Further refinancings of PFI […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament that in October 1998 the National Museum of Wales made an irregular payment to Mr Tim Arnold, their departing Assistant Director (Resource Management).
A National Audit Office report to Parliament today on the handling of the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak showed that the outbreak cost the public sector over £3 billion and the private sector more than £5 billion. According to head of the NAO Sir John Bourn, lessons to be learned from the outbreak, unprecedented in […]
In a report to Parliament today, head of the NAO Sir John Bourn recognised that the outsourcing of the Department of Social Security’s medical assessment service had reduced costs and speeded up the turnaround of work. But the standard of medical assessments and the quality of service to benefit customers need to improve. The service […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, has reported to Parliament on the outcome of financial audit work undertaken in central government by his staff over the past year. Sir John qualified his audit opinion on 13 accounts and reported on a further 13. Sir John examines the progress made by Government departments and […]
Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the costs of this project had risen from £650 million to an estimated £933 million. Although the Ministry of Defence originally considered that it had transferred the risk of cost overruns to the private sector, in the end it funded most of […]