The government has been told it will need to speed up the disposal of public land if the Whitehall target to free up capacity for at least 160,000 new homes by 2020 is to be met.
The Public Accounts Committee has a vital role in providing parliamentary oversight of government spending and public services but its work is changing in response to devolution. There is a need for...
Achieving ‘parity of esteem’ between mental and physical health will be very difficult to achieve due to pressures on the NHS budget, the Public Accounts Committee has said.
The government must set out a realistic timetable for delivering the High Speed 2 rail project and clarify important details regarding its second phase, the Public Accounts Committee has said.
The government does not understand the difficulties faced by many schools in recruiting teachers and should undertake an urgent review of teacher training to boost numbers, the Public Accounts...
The Public Accounts Committee’s warning that devolution is hindering public spending scrutiny reveals a deeper challenge at the heart of the project: reform of Westminster itself
Poor government planning of Whitehall staffing requirements is leading to an increase in spending on temporary staff that represents a waste of taxpayer money at a time of deficit reduction, the...
Value for money for international aid spending is often undermined by deficiencies in the United Nations system, a review by the UK parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has found.
Revenue & Customs must do more to tackle the perception that it does not take on tax fraud by the wealthy, a report by the Public Accounts Committee has stated.
The TaxPayers' Alliance has called on George Osborne to replace the current system of corporation tax at next month’s Budget, saying the “outdated” system was no longer suitable for a modern economy.
The Treasury’s £757.1m sale of the taxpayers’ stake in Eurostar raises fresh concerns that the government is undervaluing public assets when privatising them, the Public Accounts Committee has warned...
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...
The current system of support for young people leaving care is failing some of the country’s most vulnerable people, the Public Accounts Committee has concluded today.
Failures in tackling fraud and error in the benefits and tax credit systems remain prevalent, with combined underpayments and overpayments in excess of £47bn in 2013/14, the Public Accounts...
Meg Hillier takes charge of the Public Accounts Committee vowing to present the day-to-day reality of her constituents’ lives to the officials who spend their money
The new chair of the Public Accounts Committee has said the watchdog will scrutinise departmental plans after November’s Spending Review in an effort to tackle so-called cost shunting across the...
A banking scandal on an epic scale, flagrant misuse of public funds, fearless investigators and a grasping Scottish cabal in Westminster. Familiar? It happened 200 years ago.
The Public Accounts Committee has criticised the work of Revenue and Customs, warning that the tax collection agency continues to have ‘too cosy’ a relationship with accountancy firms and...
The chair of the Public Accounts Committee has accused the Department for Education of ‘an alarming reluctance’ to work with local authorities to improve services for children in care.
Recent reports of ineffective local government scrutiny reflect a hard if disappointing reality. But it’s important that councils invest in an enhanced scrutiny function – it will pay for...
British MPs have raised questions about the integrity of investments made by the Private Infrastructure Development Group, an agency that receives a large amount of funding from the UK Department for...
