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.
Delays in issuing passports earlier this year led to much anxiety and inconvenience for members of the public hoping to travel. By June, the Passport Agency had around 565,000 applications awaiting processing. Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today on the delays at the Agency during Summer 1999. Several … Read more
Universal Credit plans were driven by an ambitious timescale, and this led to the adoption of a new approach. The programme suffered from weak management and ineffective control.
The DWP has reset Universal Credit on a sounder basis but at significant cost, by extending the time for implementation and choosing a more expensive approach.
“The project to provide online access to the 1901 census was ambitious and, ultimately, successful. In implementing the project, the Public Record Office and its contractor QinetiQ encountered a number of problems which they managed to resolve eventually. It is important that the wider public sector learns the lessons from this project when implementing projects to provide access to services online. Looking forward, the National Archives should also consider these lessons if it decides to provide online access to the results of the 1911 census.”
In June 2011, the National Audit Office reported on the system for enforcing consumer law and the Government subsequently made a series of reforms to the consumer landscape. This update report summarises recent changes and sets out the proposed benefits to consumers, businesses and taxpayers as well as the possible risks to be managed.
“This report gives an update on how much money the public sector has recouped from PFI debt refinancings which I am pleased to say resulted from work carried out by the NAO and the Public Accounts Committee. The public sector is also being more cautious about entering into refinancing deals after the NAO highlighted the risks that can attach to these transactions.
We will continue to monitor future developments in the PFI debt and equity markets including the trends in financing costs as these are an important component of all PFI deals. More information on PFI investors’ costs and benefits will assist an understanding of how the market is functioning”
The economic case for the smart metering programme remains positive but there are significant risks and challenges to successful implementation, which must be managed.
Government continues to make good progress in implementing the Programme. It must, however increase the pace of change in some areas in the face of evolving cyber threats.
The Cabinet Office will have to work with other government departments to ensure that the full benefits of its shared services strategy are realised.
