Controlling migration is a key priority for the Home Office. It spends around £400 million per year on its Immigration Enforcement directorate of almost 5,000 staff. Immigration Enforcement’s vision is to reduce the size of the illegal population and the harm it causes. This vision is supported by three core objectives to: prevent migrants from … Read more
This will provide a factual update on progress with key government actions across health and social care, as set out in Sir Simon Stevens’s and Amanda Pritchard’s letter to NHS and foundation trusts on 17 March and the Action plan for adult social care sector published on 15 April. These actions include: increasing the availability … Read more
The Private Finance Initiative (PFI), first introduced in the 1990s, engaged the private sector to design, finance, build and maintain public infrastructure projects, such as a school, hospital or road. In return, the government makes annual payments to the private contractor over the life of the contract, typically 25-30 years. Currently, there are over 700 … Read more
In the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (the Department) established the Building Safety Programme (the Programme). Among the Programme’s activities is the implementation of the Department’s objective to ‘Oversee and support the remediation of high-rise residential buildings that have unsafe aluminium composite material [ACM] cladding’. Unsafe … Read more
Refugees who fear persecution in their home countries may apply to the UK for asylum. In 2018 there were 29,380 asylum applications. While asylum seekers wait for their claim to be considered, the Home Office is responsible for providing accommodation and support to those who would otherwise be destitute. It does this by contracting out … Read more
The tax gap is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid. The tax gap arises for a number of reasons covering a wide range of behaviours from simple errors to evasion. According to HMRC’s analysis, the tax gap for 2017-18, the latest … Read more
Carrier Strike brings together the two biggest ever warships built for the Royal Navy, US-built F35 fighter jets and a new helicopter-based radar system. The Ministry of Defence expects this to provide a step change in the UK’s defence capability. Our 2017 report examined how the MoD was managing its programme to deliver an initial … Read more
The Department for Work & Pensions has introduced Universal Credit (UC) to replace 6 means-tested benefits with a single payment. The benefits being replaced are: Child Tax Credit, Housing Benefit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Working Tax Credit. The National Audit Office has carried out several Value … Read more
In 2019, the United Kingdom exported £698.7 billion of goods and services to overseas countries. Government’s export strategy sets out how it will support businesses to make the most of opportunities presented by markets around the world and sets a new national ambition to raise exports as a proportion of GDP from 30% to 35%. … Read more
In September 2019, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government published its selection of 101 towns and cities across England that it regarded as struggling economically. It invited them to develop proposals for a Town Deal – a plan to increase economic growth, with a focus on regeneration, improved transport, better broadband connectivity, skills … Read more
There are around 250 further education colleges and sixth-form colleges in England. Between them, they educate and train over 2 million learners, in a wide range of academic and vocational subjects. Colleges form an important part of the local and national education infrastructure. They are autonomous bodies, free to make their own educational and financial … Read more
On 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom (UK) left the European Union (EU). There is now a transition period until the end of 2020 while the UK and EU negotiate additional arrangements. The current rules on trade, travel and business for the UK and EU continue to apply during the transition period. The government is … Read more
The use of cash has declined in recent years, as many people have increasingly turned to alternative payment methods. The study will examine how well public authorities are overseeing and managing the cash system. It will cover the roles of HM Treasury, the Bank of England, the Royal Mint, the Payment Systems Regulator and the … Read more
One in five children aged 11 are obese, and the proportion of 10-11-year-old children classified as obese increased from 17.5% to 20.1% between 2006-07 and 2017-18. Obesity often results in lower life expectancy and a higher chance of suffering from cancer, diabetes and other health problems. NHS England estimates that the NHS spent £6.1bn on … Read more
