Download or read book Treasury minutes on the twenty seventh to the thirty fourth the thirty sixth to the fortieth and the forty third to the forty fifth reports from the Committee of Public Accounts 2006 2007 written by Great Britain. Treasury and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-11 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Committee of Public Accounts treasury minutes are on the following reports: HCP 113, 06/07, 27th report (ISBN 9780215034311); HCP 179, 06/07, 28th report (ISBN 9780215034373); HCP 142, 06/07, 29th report (ISBN 9780215034304); HCP 189, 06/07, 30th report (ISBN 9780215034489); HCP 309, 06/07, 31st report (ISBN 9780215034496); HCP 91, 06/07, 32nd report (ISBN 9780215034571); HCP 275, 06/07 33rd report (ISBN 9780215034786); HCP 43, 06/07, 34th report (ISBN 9780215034830); HCP 729, 06/07, 36th report (ISBN 9780215034823); HCP 812, 06/07, 37th report (ISBN 9780215034878); HCP 261, 06/07, 38th report (ISBN 9780215034991); HCP 377, 06/07, 39th report (ISBN 9780215034922); HCP 368, 06/07, 40th report (ISBN 9780215035066); HCP 892, 06/07, 43rd report (ISBN 9780215035172); HCP 246, 06/07, 44th report (ISBN 9780215035271); HCP 250, 06/07, 45th report (ISBN 9780215035387)

Download or read book HC 601 Universal Credit Progress Update written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2016 with total page 25 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We acknowledge that Universal Credit has stabilised and made progress since the previous Committee of Public Accounts first reported on the programme in 2013. However, there remains a long way to go. Implementation of Universal Credit so far has focussed mainly on the simplest cases and the Department for Work & Pensions has again delayed the programme. The completion date for the roll-out of its new digital service is six months later compared to when we looked at the programme only a year ago, and the Department now expects that Universal Credit will be fully operational in March 2021. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that there will be a further six-month delay beyond the Department's latest planned end-date. We remain disappointed by the persistent lack of clarity and evasive responses by the Department to our inquiries, particularly about the extent and impact of delays. The Department's response to the previous Committee's recommendations in the February 2015 report Universal Credit: progress update do not convince us that it is committed to improving transparency about the programme's progress.

Download or read book Standard report on the accounts of HM Revenue and Customs written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-07-26 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: VAT missing trader fraud is a large-scale criminal attack on the EU VAT system, which costs the UK exchequer approximately £1 billion a year. Although the Department has been trying to tackle this fraud for six years, they still have not stemmed the flow of tax losses. Recently they obtained authority to introduce the special measure of "reverse charge" for mobile phones and computer chips but this can only be a provisional solution. The problem can only be tackled at EU level and ultimately the European Union will have to agree a new legislative framework for administering VAT.

Download or read book Recovery of Debt by the Inland Revenue Forty Ninth Report of Session 2003 04 Report Together with Formal Minutes Oral and Written Evidence written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Inland Revenue collects over £200 billion a year in tax and National Insurance contributions from 30 million taxpayers, ranging from individuals to multinational corporations. The total amount of debt from unpaid taxes stood at £12 billion at the end of March 2004, of which £3 billion was more than a year old. Following on from a NAO report (HCP 363, session 2003-04; ISBN 0102927596) published in March 2004, the Committee has examined the progress made by the Inland Revenue to speed up debt recovery, whether more can be done to encourage prompt payment and the application of good practice in debt management. Findings include that the Department should impose a surcharge on persistent late payers; use other government departmental records to find taxpayers it cannot trace; seek additional powers for enforcing debts similar to those of other tax authorities; and include debt management data in its performance measures.

Download or read book National Offender Management Service written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-06-06 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The prison population in England and Wales has been increasing since the 1990s and by November 2005 it reached a record level of 77,800, resulting in increased levels of overcrowding and stretched resources. Following on from a NAO report (HC 458, session 2005-06 (ISBN 0102935696) published in October 2005, the Committee's report examines how the Home Office, the Prison Service and the National Offender Management Service (which has responsibility for managing and accommodating prisoners) are dealing with the challenges involved in accommodating this record number of prisoners, the construction and use of temporary accommodation and the impact on the delivery of education and other training for prisoners. The Committee makes a number of conclusions and recommendations including in relation to: the deportation of foreign nationals, the use of alternatives to remand such as electronic tagging, contingency planning to ensure greater flexibility in accommodation plans including pilot testing new accommodation to identify possible problems early on, the application of best practice in anti-suicide monitoring measures, and the impact of moving prisoners around the prison estate on their training needs.

Download or read book The efficiency programme written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-11 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government's Efficiency Programme is designed to achieve ongoing efficiency gains across the public sector of £21.5 billion a year by 2007-08 to improve front line services, to reduce Civil Service posts by more than 70,000 and to reallocate a further 13,500 posts to front line services.Departments are responsible for delivering and quantifying the efficiencies achieved while the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) checks the robustness of figures put forward and provides support to help departments deliver their gains. On 26 February the Committee took evidence on the £13.3 billion of annual efficiency gains departments had reported up to 30 September 2006. While some of these reported gains are robust, almost £10 billion of reported efficiency gains remain uncertain. On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General,evidence was taken from OGC and the Treasury on four main issues: the measurement of efficiency gains and headcount reductions; the effects of efficiency projects on service quality; the management of the Programme; and embedding a culture of efficiency into the public sector.

Download or read book Reducing Brain Damage written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-07-11 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Strokes are one of the top three causes of death in England and a leading cause of adult disability. There are 110,000 strokes each year in England, with a quarter occurring to people under 65 years. Some 300,000 people in England are living with moderate to severe disabilities as a result of a stroke. As the NAO report on this subject pointed out (HCP 452, session 05/06 NAO ISBN 010293570X), it costs the economy in total about £7 billion a year, with the direct cost to the NHS about £2.8 billion. This Committee of Public Accounts report takes evidence from the Department of Health and sets out a number of recommendations. The cost of stroke, in both economic and human terms, could be reduced by re-organizing existing services more effectively. Brain scans of many stroke patients are being delayed, everyone who suffers a stroke should be scanned as soon as possible after arrival in hospital, and should not wait more than 24 hours. Stroke patients should spend longer in hospital on a stroke unit, this could reduce the number of deaths. There needs to be an increase in the number of consultants who have training in dealing with strokes, as well as therapists and other specialist staff with expertise in stroke care across the primary and secondary healthcare sectors. The Department of Health should improve provision of information to stroke survivors and carers, so they are made more aware of the support services available. The Department should run an awareness campaign to improve public knowledge about strokes

Download or read book Records of the Proceedings and Printed Papers of the Parliament written by Australia. Parliament and published by . This book was released on 1964 with total page 950 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Academies Programme written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-18 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An academy is a new type of school that is publicly funded, supported by one or more sponsors and operates independently of the local authority. Their aim is to raise achievement standards in deprived areas by replacing poorly performing schools or by providing new school places where they are needed. 83 academies were in operation by September 2007, with plans for 200 academies to be opened by 2010 at a capital cost of around £5 billion. Following on from a NAO report on this topic (HCP 254, session 2006-07; ISBN 9780102944426) published in February 2007, the Committee's report examines the progress of the Academies Programme and whether it is on track to achieve its objectives. Findings include: i) the average capital cost of the first new-build academies was £27 million, compared with between £20-22 million for other new secondary schools; ii) exclusions of pupils are higher on average from academies that other schools; and iii) although there are signs of progress being made, such as improvements at GCSE and key stage 3 levels, achievements in literacy and numeracy levels are lower than other secondary schools and it is too early to tell whether rising attainment is sustainable. Academies need to collaborate more with other secondary schools and lessons need to be learned from completed academy projects in terms of improving project management and reducing cost overruns.

Download or read book Identity and Passport Service written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-10 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines how lessons learnt from the introduction of ePassports will be incorporated into future projects; the cost of authenticating applicants' identities; passport fee trends; the measures being taken by the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) to hold down passport fees; and working with others to reduce costs and improve border security. An ePassport contains an electronic chip storing biographical data and a digital facial image of the passport holder. From 2009 new second generation ePassports will incorporate the fingerprints of the passport holder. Passport fees have risen ahead of inflation since September 2003 to fund ePassport technology and other projects intended to improve the security of the UK passport. From 2009 all passport applicants will have to attend in person to provide fingerprints for inclusion in second generation ePassports. The set-up cost of data collection, validation and storage necessary to introduce these changes will be substantial. During 2007 IPS has been introducing personal interviews at its 69 new interviewing offices for first time adult passport applicants. At least one of the 69 offices is intended to be within an hour's travel by public or private transport for 95% of the UK population (except in remote locations). But elderly and disabled people may still face difficulties in making the journey. With the introduction of second generation ePassports, all applicants will need to attend a local office to give their fingerprints. The long term durability of the chip embedded in the ePassport book is unproven.

Download or read book Legal Services Commission written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-16 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Family disputes that are resolved through mediation are cheaper, quicker and, according to academic research, less acrimonious than those that are settled through the courts. Despite these advantages, only some 20 per cent of people who are funded by legal aid for family breakdown cases (excluding those involving domestic violence) currently opt for mediation. Following on from a NAO report on this topic (HCP 256, session 2006-07; ISBN 9780102944525), the Committee's report examines the shortcomings of the current system for referring clients to mediation, and the actions the Legal Services Commission has in train to increase referrals to and take-up of mediation services, to improve the quality of mediation offered, and to strengthen the Commission's oversight of solicitors and mediation providers.

Download or read book Helping newly registered business meet their tax obligations written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-25 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The NAO report on this topic was published as HC 98, session 2006-07 (ISBN 9780102943825)

Download or read book Sessional Index for Session written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Increased Resources to Improve Public Services written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In July 2002, the Government announced a public expenditure increase of £61 billion over three years, to be targeted at improving key public services. The three largest recipients of the extra funding were the Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Health and the Department for Transport. Following on from a NAO report on this topic (HCP 234, session 2003-04; ISBN 0102927103) published in January 2004, the Committee's report examines how these departments are using their extra resources, focusing on three main issues: the complexity of the service deliver chain, how they can secure further improvements in service quality, and performance monitoring and benchmarking. Conclusions reached include that, complex delivery chains and financing mechanisms need to be simplified, and a direct link established between funding and specific targets for service improvements. As all three departments deliver services indirectly through a network of partners and contractors, they need to ensure delivery partners have sufficient capability and capacity to deliver services effectively. Departments should also share information on their plans to increase delivery capacity more widely among key suppliers.

Download or read book Accountability for public money progress report written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-04-17 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is a follow-up to the Committee's report on Accountability for Public Money (HC 740, session 2010-11 (ISBN 9780215559029)) an issue at the core of the relationship between Parliament and government. Accounting Officers remain accountable to Parliament for funds voted to their departments but the policy intention is that local bodies will have significant discretion over the services they deliver. In the Government's response, 'Accountability: Adapting to Decentralisation', Sir Bob Kerslake drew a distinction between those services that government delivers directly and those that it may fund but are delivered in more decentralised arrangements. He proposed that Accounting Officers set out, in Accountability System Statements, the arrangements they have in place to provide assurance about the probity and value for money of funds spent through devolved systems. All departments are expected to produce Statements by summer 2012. Departments have made a genuine effort to develop arrangements which reconcile accountability and localism but the Statements so far are unwieldy and considerably more needs to be done to improve their clarity, consistency and completeness. There is concern that accountability frameworks must drive value for money and, critically, are sufficiently robust to address the operational or financial failure of service providers. Departments are placing increasing reliance on market mechanisms such as user choice to drive up performance and value for money, but there are limits to what these mechanisms can achieve. The Treasury needs to take ownership of the system and ensure that the Comptroller and Auditor General has the necessary powers and rights of access to examine the value for money of funds spent through devolved systems

Download or read book Formula funding of local public services written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-11-16 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines existing approaches to formula funding across government, and the principles that should be carried forward to new arrangements. Government departments distributed £152 billion, one-fifth of all government spending, to local public bodies in 2011-12 based on the three grants considered: Primary Care Trust Allocations; Dedicated Schools Grant; and the Department for Communities and Local Government's Formula Grant. These distribute funding to local public bodies in a range of sectors, including health, education, local government, police and fire and rescue services. The formula funding systems are complex, difficult to understand, and have led to inequitable allocations. For Dedicated Schools Grant, based mainly on historical spending patterns, per pupil funding for schools with similar characteristics can vary by as much as 40%. Under Formula Grant, nearly 20% of authorities received allocations which are more than 10% different from calculated needs. The priorities accorded to different elements of the formulae are judgements which have a direct impact on the distribution of funds. In some cases the basis for the judgement is guided by authoritative, published independent advice. In other cases, the basis for judgement lacks transparency, and external advice lacks status and influence. Only 4% of respondents to DCLG's consultation supported the current version of the model used to calculate Formula Grant. Some of the data used by departments in calculating relative needs is inaccurate and out of date. Current reviews of formula funding provide opportunities to address the weaknesses identified in this report.

Download or read book Means testing written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-01-12 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government uses means testing to distribute at least £87 billion of benefits to claimants each year, around 13% of total public spending. The poorest fifth of households rely on means-tested benefits for a third of their net income. The planned introduction of a new means-tested Universal Credit will replace a number of existing means-tested benefits. Currently 30 different means tested benefits are managed by nine departments and 152 local authorities in England. But Departments have a limited understanding of how their design of benefits affects incentives for employment, the burden on claimants, take-up and administrative costs. Departments need to improve their understanding of how all benefits interact and how changes to eligibility rules can affect claimants. Complexity increases the burden on claimants which can harm take-up, and is likely to disadvantage the most vulnerable members of society in particular. The Government expects Universal Credit reforms to simplify the system and improve incentives to find work. The DWP's priority is to focus on the effective delivery of these reforms. However, success will also depend on proper coordination between Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits. In addition, DWP and HMRC are designing a real-time information (RTI) system for Universal Credit to reduce the risk of overpayments, with benefits being recalculated as soon as circumstances change. Both DWP and HMRC need to understand how the introduction of this system will impact on small businesses and the self-employed who may not have the necessary IT to administer it.