The government has spent at least £239m on 26 inquiries since 2005 but does not monitor their effectiveness, the official public spending watchdog has revealed today.
Local authorities in England are struggling to cope with higher demands and cost pressures, according to a report from the National Audit Office out today.
Government borrowing has increased by 61% since 2009-10 and, while costs have been kept down, the size of the debt poses a significant risk to the public finances, government auditors have warned.
The Department for Education needs to reduce payments to students who do not finish their studies at non-publicly funded higher education providers, the spending watchdog has found.
The first sale of shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland lost the government £1.9bn but was still value for money, according to the National Audit Office.
A programme to streamline the Bank of England is on course to be completed £25m under budget but shortcomings have arisen, the National Audit Office has found.
The Department for Education lacks a “clear rationale” to explain how an increase in apprenticeship numbers would benefit national productivity, according to the National Audit Office.
There needs to be a “step change” in the way the civil service does business in the wake of Brexit and other challenges, the comptroller and auditor general has said.
Government financial assets across banking, housing and student finance are placing an increasing risk to the public finances, the National Audit Office has warned.
Each plan taken out under the government’s Green Deal cost the taxpayer over £17,000 and overall the scheme was not value for money, auditors have found.
The criminal justice system in England and Wales does not provide value for money as delays and aborted court hearings create extra work and waste scarce resources, according to the National Audit...
Departmental accounting officers have more incentives to keep ministers sweet than they do to raise concerns and safeguard taxpayers’ money, the National Audit Office has warned.
The UK’s Department for International Development needs to be better placed to ensure value for money in its response to fluid, long-term crises, the country’s public spending watchdog has said.
The chair of the Public Accounts Committee has accused some Whitehall departments of “playing fast and loose with taxpayers’ money” after a report found spending on consultants and temporary staff...
Auditor general Amyas Morse has issued a qualified opinion on the 2014/15 accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions’ Client Funds Accounts, which cover statutory child maintenance schemes.