A shortfall in digital and procurement expertise across government has led to taxpayers’ money being wasted and progress on transformation losing pace, according to the National Audit Office.
The UK spending watchdog has raised concerns about the Government Property Agency’s accounting, leading to it qualifying its opinion on the Cabinet Office’s accounts for 2023-24.
Senior audit manager at the National Audit Office Chris Coyne explains the value in the NAO’s good practice guides, including the latest on resource allocation.
The overwhelming lack of reliable financial data submitted by the English local authority sector to the Whole of Government Accounts has led the comptroller and auditor general to disclaim his...
The scale of the financial issues English health services face now and in the coming years is “unprecedented”, the National Audit Office has claimed in a report – with the government claiming the NHS...
Government plans to house asylum seekers in barges and former military sites will cost £46m more than continuing to use hotels, according to a report from the National Audit Office.
Delays and a poor initial estimate for developing a new medical research facility have seen costs soar and “undermined” future resilience to public health emergencies and value for money, the...
The government does not properly monitor the effectiveness of tax reliefs, meaning billions of pounds of subsidies may not deliver economic growth, the National Audit Office has said.
The government cannot demonstrate that biomass generators are meeting sustainability targets, the National Audit Office has said, casting doubt over the effectiveness of subsidies.
NHS trusts’ inconsistent use of a central procurement body means the service is not “making the most” of its enormous buying power, the National Audit Office has said.
Company failure can present the public sector with extremely high levels of risk. Simon Reason of the National Audit Office explains some work the watchdog has done preparing a report setting...
Existing council spending pressures and the lack of long-term funding certainty could put the government’s 10-year reform programme at risk, the National Audit Office has said.
Construction delays and overspends on existing developments mean the government will miss its election target to build 40 hospitals by 2030, the National Audit Office has warned.
The failure to pay benefit claimants the correct level of support was a contributing factor in the National Audit Office giving a qualified opinion on the Department for Work and Pensions’ accounts.
The government’s growing debt burden and high interest costs are a key risk to public finances and must be managed carefully, the National Audit Office has said.
The huge backlog of unaudited local government accounts has ramifications across government, including for entire departments and the NHS, the head of the NAO has warned.
Unscrupulous landlords are profiting from expensive and poor-quality housing for vulnerable people because fragmented regulations and a lack of official data have allowed them to get away with it, a...
Reported fraud nearly quadrupling in the wake of Covid-19, and the fact that the government looks unlikely to recover most of the money, could lead to fraud and corruption becoming more accepted, the...
Delivering the Euston terminus of HS2 will cost almost double its budget despite changes to the scheme aimed at reducing costs, the National Audit Office has said.
Just 1% of fraudulent or incorrect Covid-19 business grant payments have been recovered by councils, because there are no incentives for them to do so, the National Audit Office has said.
The government will struggle to achieve its net zero targets if it continues without a clear plan to decarbonise the power sector – the “backbone” of its ambition – according to the national spending...
