Download or read book Improving the Efficiency of Postal Services Procurement in the Public Sector written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-03-24 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This NAO report contains case studies which examine the use of postal services in five organisations, relating to two large government departments (HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions), two executive agencies (National Savings and Investments and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency), and a private sector financial services organisation (the RBS Group, which covers brands such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest Bank, Coutts, Direct Line and Tesco Personal Finance). Two accompanying documents are available separately: the main report (HCP 946-I, ISBN 0102937303) which examines how public sector organisations can become more effective in their procurement and management of postal services; and guidance which sets out examples of good practice across public and private sectors (HCP 946-III, ISBN 0102937362).
Download or read book Improving the Efficiency of Postal Services Procurement in the Public Sector written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-03-24 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All public sector organisations rely to varying degrees on postal services, costing nearly £650 million annually of which £250 million is spent by central government departments. The two biggest spenders are the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs which account for over half this amount, with ten organisations accounting for 95 per cent of the total. Despite the growth in the use of internet and email, at least for the foreseeable future conventional mail will remain essential to the way public bodies communicate with the public. This NAO report examines how public sector organisations can become more effective in their procurement and management of postal services, and identifies six main areas where further improvements can be made in order to realise an estimated £31 million a year in savings by 2008-09. Two accompanying documents are available separately: case studies which examine the use of postal services in five organisations (HCP 946-II, ISBN 0102937354); and a guide which sets out examples of good practice across public and private sectors (HCP 946-III, ISBN 0102937362).
Download or read book Improving the Efficiency of Postal Services Procurement in the Public Sector written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-03-24 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the analysis set out in the main NAO report (HCP 946-I, ISBN 0102937303) into how public sector organisations can become more effective in their procurement and management of postal services, and a volume of case studies (HCP 946-II, ISBN 0102937354), this good practice guidance identifies six key areas in which public sector organisations can improve efficiency in public service procurement and the quality of customer service provision. Key areas for savings are: increasing the use of 'work share' to benefit from bulk discounts; changing the class of mail from first class to lower cost products; use of competitive tendering; and reducing the volume of undeliverable mail.
Download or read book Smarter Food Procurement in the Public Sector written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-03-30 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The public sector in England spends around £2 billion per year on food and catering services, including in schools, hospitals and armed forces bases. This NAO report examines how public sector organisations can improve their food procurement practices in order to reduce costs whilst maintaining the quality of meals provided. The report finds that the public sector could achieve efficiency gains of £224 million by 2010-11, with significant scope for improvement in relation to: developing market knowledge and buying practices; employing joint procurement to increase purchasing power; establishing greater transparency in contract caterers' charges; promoting the professional development of catering staff in the public sector; reducing costs and environmental impacts through efficient operational practices; and increasing the take up of meals and income generated by them. Two accompanying documents are available separately: Case studies (HCP 963-II, ISBN 0102937435) and a Good practice guide (HCP 963-III, ISBN 0102937443).
Download or read book Public Sector Auditing written by Sir John Bourn and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-07-31 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on 20 years of experience as Comptroller and Auditor General, and head of the United Kingdom National Audit Office, Public Sector Auditing: Is it Value for Money? is Sir John Bourn’s own account of the role and influence value for money auditing has in holding governments to account and in helping public bodies improve the ways in which they deliver services. Key features include: In-depth case studies from UK, US, Canada, China, India and Australia; Detailed analysis of complex areas of public expenditure such as health, education, privatisation, regulation, defence and IT; Examples of how auditing can promote positive outcomes rather than negative post mortems. This book is relevant for people working in both the public and private sectors, and should be essential reading for the staff of public sector audit institutions around the world, as well as commercial accountancy firms and students of accountancy, politics, economics and public management.
Download or read book Re opening the Post written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-03-22 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In March 2001, the Government set up the Postal Services Commission (Postcomm) to regulate the postal services market in the UK, in order to ensure the provision of a universal postal service and to promote effective competition and safeguard the interests of customers. Following on from an earlier NAO report (HCP 521, session 2001-02 (ISBN 0102913595) published in January 2002, this report examines developments in regulating the quality of service, focusing on the issue of price setting. The report finds that Postcomm has put in place service quality targets to protect the customer, and Royal Mail's performance against its targets has been improving since regulation was introduced. A number of recommendations are made to help improve the quality of service regime, including i) developing the information systems needed to provide a validation system for universal service failure reporting and to monitor collection and delivery times; and ii) monitoring the development of competition in the postal sector.
Download or read book The Management of Staff Sickness Absence in the National Probation Service written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-04-26 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This NAO report examines sick leave in the National Probation Service, which was running at 12.3 days per person in the 2004-05 period at a cost of £31.6 million. A number of recommendations have been set out as follows. That the National Probation Directorate should agree with the Chief Probation Officer a consistent minimum standard for collecting and reporting sickness absence data in their areas. This in turn could be used to produce comparative analyses, and offer a basis to diagnose the causes of sickness absence. An upgrade in some areas of their information technology systems should occur, so that better management information can be compiled. All probation areas should implement the mandatory elements of the national policy on sickness absence. All Chief Officers should review their action plans for reducing sickness absence. Sickness absence should be managed effectively but sympathetically, by including return to work interviews, along with a means of distinguishing between avoidable and unavoidable sickness absences, and addressing the culture of absenteeism. Long term sickness absence should be reviewed as a matter of urgency. Policies relating to work/life balance should be implemented nationally.
Download or read book The Creation of Ofcom written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-07-05 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ofcom = Office of Communications.
Download or read book Child Support Agency Implementation of the Child Support Reforms written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-06-30 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new system for child support was introduced for new cases and those with links to new cases from 3 March 2003. There were new rules for child support and a simplified calculation of maintenance. In addition the Child Support Agency underwent substantial restructuring and introduced a new IT system. This was necessary because the Agency had been previously missing its targets, suffered from a large backlog of unprocessed cases and there was a low level of compliance from non-resident parents. However there have been problems implementing the reforms. This report provides an assessment of: what caused the problems; the impact on the quality of service provided to the customers; and actions taken by the Agency in response to the problems and the lessons learnt.
Download or read book Working with Non governmental and Other Civil Society Organisations to Promote Development written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-07-06 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The term Civil Society covers aspects of society independent of the state and the private sector. Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are bodies organised around shared interests and values and include NGOs, trade unions, faith groups and business associations. Since 1997 the Department fro International Development (DFID) has increasingly worked with CSOs to help to reduce world poverty. This report looks at DFID's view of the role of CSOs in international development; how it engages with CSOs; and the achievements of CSOs in reducing poverty. It is based on visits to 4 countries, 19 projects, a file review of 40 projects and Partnership Programme Agreements; and the response of 90 CSOs.
Download or read book Fines Collection written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-05-25 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fines are the most common sentence imposed by Magistrates' courts in England and Wales, covering a range of crimes including motoring offences, drug offences, criminal damage and TV licence evasion. In the year 2004-05, penalties totalling £352 million were imposed, with £75 million cancelled and £222 million collected. Following on from an earlier report (HCP 672, session 2001-02, ISBN 0102914508) published in 2002, the NAO has examined whether the changes made in practices and procedures have resulted in improvements to the enforcement and collections of fines. It is estimated that a 25 per cent reduction in the number of legally cancelled fines would result in potential savings of £6.9 million per year and prompter payment of fines would yield further annual savings of almost one million pounds. Although a series of measures have been introduced by the Department for Constitutional Affairs to improve the system, over two thirds of the cases examined required enforcement action before the offender made any payments. A number of recommendations for further improvements are made, including in relation to developing performance indicators; prompter collection of fines, including making payment facilities (including cash) available at each court; focusing staff resource allocation on the early stages of enforcement; and addressing IT problems caused by the delay of the Libra system
Download or read book Using the Contract to Maximise the Likelihood of Successful Project Outcomes written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-06-07 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is one of a series of studies by the NAO which examine key factors involved in improving project performance in defence equipment procurement, with the aim of establishing best practice in relation to a theoretical 'gold standard' developed by assessing and comparing results of overseas and commercial operations. Following on from the first report in the series (HCP 30, session 2005-06, ISBN 0102932611) which identified the contract as a key component of project control, this report sets out recommendations on how the Ministry of Defence and its industry partners can best use the contract to maximise the likelihood of successful project outcomes. (It does not examine methods (competitive or otherwise) the MoD might pursue to select a potential supplier, as the effective use of competition will be the subject of a future report). More information on the evidence underlying the recommendations in this report and the gold standard criteria developed can be found on the website: www.naodefencevfm.org
Download or read book A5 Queue Relocation in Dunstable Wider Lessons written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-04-28 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dunstable town centre suffers severe traffic congestion, due to limited road capacity and high volumes of heavy goods vehicles, causing poor air quality. The Dunstable A5 queue relocation scheme was introduced to provide a co-ordinated traffic management control system using existing and new traffic signals along the A5. The aim of the scheme was to improve the flow of traffic and reduce queues, to increase the safety and accessibility of pedestrians, to reduce accidents and lessen noise and pollution. Construction began in 1999 and was completed in 2004, at a final cost of two million pounds (although the scheme was budgeted to cost £1.4 million). The NAO report finds that the scheme has not delivered the expected benefits forecast for safety, journey times, environment and accessibility; and has failed to satisfy local expectations. Although there has been an overall reduction in accidents, there has been an increase in the number of accidents occurring at two junctions in the town centre since the scheme was introduced. Whilst the circumstances of the Dunstable scheme are specific to that location, the NAO report identifies lessons to be learned which can be applied more widely across the Highways Agency.
Download or read book Reserve Forces written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-03-31 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reserve Forces mainly consist of approximately 36,000 Volunteer Reserves, and some 52,000 Regular Reserves (former Regular service personnel who retain a liability to be called up). They are an integral and vital part of the United Kingdom's defence capability, making up some 11 per cent of the Iraq Operation TELIC manpower since 2003, for example. But the Ministry of Defence (the Department) faces a number of challenges in sustaining the future use of the Reserve Forces. All of the Volunteer Reserves are below strength, with the highest manning levels, at December 2005, in the Territorial Army at 81 per cent of current requirement. There are difficulties in providing training for Reservists, caused by problems with scheduling, resource constraints and the lower priority they are given. Turnover is high: many Reservists cite personal, family and employment pressures as reasons for leaving, but also reasons such as "inadequate support" and "no longer a challenge". The Department is not yet in a strong position to judge the cost-effectiveness of Reserve Forces: the NAO estimates the total cost of the Reserves as £440 million, implying that the approximate cost of a member of the Territorial Army, for example, is some £10,000 a year when not deployed, compared with a cost of £55,000 a year for a soldier in the Regular Army. The costs for Reserves are not full costs, so should be treated with care, but the comparison suggests that the use of Reserves is a cost-effective option where that use does not impact adversely on their availability for future requirements or on Reservists, their families and employers. The NAO makes thirteen recommendations concerning recruitment, training, costs, performance, retention, and welfare and support services.
Download or read book VAT on E commerce written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-05-26 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The value of internet sales (known as e-commerce) in the UK has more than trebled between 2002 and 2004 to £18.1 billion, with a further surge around Christmas 2005, and this level is expected to rise to nearly £60 billion a year by 2010. It is estimated that in 2005-06 HM Revenue and Customs collected over £1 billion in VAT on e-commerce goods and services. HM Revenue and Customs does not separately identify the exact amount of VAT collected from e-commerce because businesses are required to calculate and pay over VAT for their entire taxable activities, which include both traditional forms of business and e-commerce. In light of these developments, this NAO report examines the implications of the growth in e-commerce for VAT collection and the approach of HM Revenue and Customs to VAT collection. The report finds that HM Revenue and Customs has been alert to emerging areas of risk, such as the failure of e-commerce businesses to register for VAT and the non-payment or underpayment of import VAT on goods ordered over the internet from outside the EU. The report supports the assessment by HM Revenue and Customs that the overall risk to VAT revenue from on-line shopping is currently low, but as activity increases in this fast changing environment, it will be important that the Department builds on its work to keep abreast of possible changes in the patterns and levels of risk to VAT.
Download or read book Supporting Small Business written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-05-24 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2000, the Department of Trade and Industry established the Small Business Service (SBS). This report presents four aspects of its work in more detail - SBS's role in: influencing Government regulations and policies; facilitating small business access to finance; helping to join up services across Government; providing advice and support to small business. The NAO report also sets out a number of recommendations, including the following: that the current performance measurement framework could be simplified, by reviewing the Public Service Agreement objectives and targets; that an improvement in the programme of evaluations should align Government targets with small business aims and objectives; that the Small Business Service actions and activities should be supported by well documented cost-effective evidence; that the Government Action Plan for departmental co-operation should be further developed, including specific commitments from government departments on the actions they are undertaking and the resources they have committed to small business issues. The latest data, from 2003 showed that of the 3.5 million businesses in England all bar 5,400 were either small (with fewer that 50 employees) or medium-sized (with 50 to 249 employees). Small and medium sized businesses are found in all sectors of the economy, account for half of all business turnover and employ 57% of the England's private sector workforce. This report examines the SBS's performance management framework and its performance against key targets.
Download or read book Update on PFI Debt Refinancing and the PFI Equity Market written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-04-21 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Findings from this NAO report include that the government has secured gains of £137 million from Private Finance Initiative (PFI) debt refinancings under new arrangements introduced by the Treasury in 2002 (including £102 million from four large refinancings (one of the London Underground contracts and three hospital projects: Norfolk and Norwich, Darent Valley and Bromley). The NAO found that the new sharing arrangements through a voluntary Code appear to be generally working well but there have been exceptions, for example in three road projects the public sector missed out on at least £1.7 million because gains were not shared in accordance with the voluntary code. The report also describes the emergence of the PFI secondary market which is enabling equity investors in PFI projects to sell their shares on to new investors.
