Download or read book Using Leaflets to Communicate with the Public about Services and Entitlements written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-01-25 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provides services to some 28 million people. Despite the development of new technology, printed materials, in particular leaflets, play an important role in ensuring that customers are informed of services and entitlements. This NAO report examines how effectively the DWP manages the provision of accurate information in its leaflets issued to customers, as well as communicating clearly and effectively about benefits and services. It focuses on how the DWP manages the risks associated with producing and issuing inaccurate leaflets; whether it can ensure that the information in leaflets is accurate and accessible; and whether leaflets are easily available for customers. Findings include that although the DWP has made progress in improving the design of some leaflets, it could go further to make them easier for the public to understand and get hold of, as well as improving checks on the accuracy of leaflets and its supply and printing arrangements so that the most recent versions are widely available.
Download or read book Tax credits written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-05-09 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The current tax credit system was introduced in April 2003 with the aim of helping families with children and working people on low incomes. However it suffers from the highest rate of error and fraud in government. This is the Committee's fourth report on the system. It concludes that the cost in terms of the unforeseen level of overpayments and the scale of error and fraud continues to be significant and beyond the levels Parliament was lead to expect. The Department is now taking steps to reduce the level of overpayment but does not yet have an adequate response for error and fraud.
Download or read book Child Support Agency written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-07-05 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since it was established in 1993, the Child Support Agency has consistently underperformed, plagued by enormous backlogs of unprocessed cases and uncollected maintenance. Where it works well, the Agency has secured regular contributions from non-resident parents and helped lift an estimated 100,000 children out of poverty. It has to administer complex assessment, collection and enforcement processes and deal with complicated emotional, financial and legal issues to bring about a degree of financial stability for children and parents. Following on from a NAO report (HCP 1174, session 2005-06; ISBN 9780102938692) published in June 2006, the Committee's report examines the implementation of child support reforms, focusing on why the problems in implementing the reforms arose, the impact on the quality of service, the remedial action taken by the Child Support Agency and the lessons learnt. The report finds that implementing the reforms has cost the taxpayer £539 million since 2000, with plans for a further £320 million to improve service levels over the next three years; but the money has failed to deliver improvements in efficiency and quality of service. The Agency still performs less effectively than its counterparts in Australia and New Zealand, with higher average costs per case and lower rates of compliance. The Government published its White Paper (Cm. 6979, ISBN 9780101697927) in December 2006, drawing on the recommendations made by Sir David Henshaw in his report "Recovering child support: routes to responsibility" (Cm. 6984, ISBN 9780101689427). Amongst the reforms announced, the Government will replace the Child Support Agency (CSA) with a new organisation, the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (C-MEC) by 2008.
Download or read book Reducing the Reliance on Landfill in England written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-07-26 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1999 the European Union introduced a Directive that require the UK to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste disposed of in landfill. By 2010 we have to landfill 75% of the amount landfilled in 1995. This figure reduces to 50% by 2013 and 35% by 2020. If the target is not met then the UK could be fined for non-compliance. So far DEFRA has spent £336 million on initiatives to reduce the amount of landfill, but reductions have been offset by growth in the amount of waste produced and there is a risk that the targets will not be met. An emphasis on recycling alone is not enough. DEFRA needs to focus on helping the 25 authorities that send most to landfill and help develop alternative waste facilities, as well as encouraging more households to recycle and compost. This examination of the problem is in four parts: 1) England needs to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste disposed through landfill; 2) earlier delays I taking action made European Union targets more difficult to achieve; 3) without a step change in existing local authority plans, England will not achieve its share of the reductions in landfill the European Union requires by 2010 and 2013; 4) recycling and minimisation need to contribute more to reducing the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill.
Download or read book Progress on Tackling Pensioner Poverty written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-07-21 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2002 report Tackling pensioner poverty: encouraging take-up of entitlements (ISBN 0102919577) examined efforts by the Department for Work and Pensions to increase the take-up of benefits by pensioners. It was followed by a report from the Committee of Public Accounts (ISBN 0215009347) that made a number of recommendations. This report looks at the changes the Department have made against those recommendations and the challenges that remain. The overall conclusion is that the Pension Service has made substantial progress in helping pensioners secure their entitlements, using new and thought through approaches. However there is more to be done. This report is accompanied by a technical report that describes the methodology and findings in greater detail.
Download or read book Understanding Social Security Second Edition written by Jane Millar and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2009-02-02 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second edition of this important text reviews policy developments since 1997. The chapters have been extensively updated and there are new chapters on social security reform, inequalities and social security, and the new 'welfare market'.
Download or read book Department of Health written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-04-17 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Programme for IT in the NHS ("the Programme") was set up to utilise information technology to help provide high quality services to patients, using centrally managed procurement to provide impetus to the uptake of IT and to secure economies of scale. Expenditure on the Programme is expected to be £12.4 billion over ten years to 2013-14. Following a National Audit Office report (HC 1173, session 2005-06, ISBN 9780102938289), the Committee examined progress made by the Department of Health in implementing the Programme, particularly the current status of the shared electronic patient clinical record; the costs of the Programme; the local management and implementation of the systems within the NHS; the extent to which clinicians were involved in developing the systems; the management of suppliers; and patient confidentiality. Four overall conclusions are drawn: (1) the piloting and deployment of the shared electronic patient clinical record is already running two years behind schedule and no firm implementation date exists; (2) the suppliers to the Programme are clearly struggling to deliver (one of the largest, Accenture, has now withdrawn), and the Department is unlikely to complete the Programme anywhere near its original schedule; (3) the Department has much still to do to win hearts and minds in the NHS, especially among clinicians, and needs to show that it can deliver on its promises, supply solutions that are fit for purpose, learn from its mistakes, and respond constructively to feedback from users in the NHS; (4) there is still much uncertainty about the costs of the Programme for the local NHS and the value of the benefits it should achieve.
Download or read book Progress in combat identification written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-05 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combat identification is the way military personnel distinguish friend from foe and non-combatants during operations, thereby minimising the risk of deaths and injuries from friendly fire as well as damage to property and infrastructure, whilst maintaining operational effectiveness. It is a complex issue as it spans all the military environments (land, maritime and air), particularly when operations are conducted in coalition with allies, as this requires interoperability of equipment and harmonisation of tactics and practices. Following on from an NAO report (HCP 936, session 2005-06, ISBN 9780102937169) published in March 2006, the Committee's report examines three main issues: progress on equipment projects to improve combat identification; Operation TELIC and investigations into friendly fire deaths; and data collection of friendly fire incidents. Amongst its conclusions, the report finds that the MoD has failed to develop viable combat identification solutions to counter the risks of friendly fire incidents, despite their devastating effects and despite the recommendations made by the Committee in 1992 and 2002, with significant delays in equipment programmes such as the Battlefield Target Identification System. Given the considerable delays in the time the MoD took to conclude the investigations into friendly fire incidents and to make the findings publicly available, the report recommends that once investigations into friendly fire incidents are complete, the MoD should publish the findings of Boards of Inquiry within one month.
Download or read book Department for Work and Pensions written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-01-23 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provides services to some 28 million people and, despite the development of new technology, printed materials such as leaflets play an important role in ensuring that customers are informed of services and entitlements. Following on from a NAO report (HC 797, session 2005-06; ISBN 9780102936728) published in January 2006, the Committee's report focuses on three issues: managing the process for producing accurate leaflets; accessibility of information for a diverse range of customers; and making information available to the public. Findings include: i) the DWP has reduced its total number of published leaflets from 245 to 178 and is committed to making an overall reduction of 100; ii) the DWP is unable to determine the exact cost of producing leaflets, which has been estimated at £31 million in 2004-05; iii) around 40 per cent of the 27 different leaflets tested by the NAO across the country were out of date, and all 13 of the Department's key leaflets tested required a reading age higher than the national average; and iv) leaflets are not easily accessible to groups such as those with disabilities or non-English speakers, and copies of four core departmental leaflets examined were available at only 11 per cent of key non-departmental locations such as libraries and Citizens' Advice offices visited by the NAO.
Download or read book Refer written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Department for Work and Pensions written by Great Britain. National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department for Work and Pensions has made progress in reducing the number of leaflets that it produces for its customers and in making application forms simpler and shorter. The Department has significantly changed the way in which it provides information in recent years with a growth in telephone enquiries and in online provision. The Department has reduced the quantity of leaflets that it produces for customers, from 208 different leaflets in 2005 at a cost of �10.3 million to 53 leaflets in 2008 costing �1.7 million. It has also reduced the length of most of its forms, though some are unnecessarily long and guidance notes are complicated and the Department's computer generated letters are overly long and confusing for customers. The Department has put telephone calls at the centre of its application process. It is also increasingly using the internet to communicate with customers. In response to the rise in applications for the Jobseeker's Allowance, up by 81 per cent in the six months to January 2009, the Department plans to implement systems giving customers the option of full online applications for contributory Jobseeker's Allowance from summer 2009, rather than February 2010 as originally planned. Cost efficiencies from online provision have still to be realised fully. Though forms can be downloaded from the internet it is not yet possible to apply for most benefits online, meaning that staff and customer time is taken up handling claims over the telephone or face to face.
Download or read book Dealing with the Complexity of the Benefits System written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2005-11-18 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and its agencies, are responsible for administering around 40 social security benefits to the value of around £100 billion a year. Many of these benefits are linked together; hence some customers are in receipt of more than one benefit. The need for equity and fairness in interpreting legislation, is a cause of complexity. Incentives (e.g. to work) and rewards (e.g. for an individual's savings) have been built into procedures. Problems are caused by the interface between DWP benefits and tax credits (which are administered by HM Revenue and Customs); and by the constant flow of major and minor legislative and administrative changes. Simplified procedures would enable both staff and customers to understand the system better, and to avoid duplication of effort. There would also be less scope for benefits fraud (estimated at £2.6 billion in 2004-05). This NAO report also highlights the need for improved communication with customers and better use of new technology.
Download or read book The right of access to open countryside written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-06-21 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Countryside Rights of Way Act 2000 introduced a public right to walk across designated mountain, moor, heath, downs and registered common land in England. DEFRA tasked the Countryside Agency with opening-up the new access by the end of 2005, and the target was met with two months to spare. However the implementation of the right to roam cost the Countryside Agency £24.6 million more than anticipated, with knock-on impacts on other programmes. This report looks at the implementation of open access and the effect of the policy under the headings: encouraging the public to use the right to roam across the countryside; protecting the environment of access land and the rights of landowners; improving planning and project management. However the success of legislation is as yet unknown because there is no information on the extent to which the public are making use of their new right. In October 2006 the responsibility for open access passed from the Countryside Agency to Natural England.
Download or read book Ofwat written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-05-10 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) is the economic regulator of water services in England and Wales, with responsibility for setting price limits that allow the 22 main water companies to secure sustainable supplies at the lowest cost to the consumer. Following on from a NAO report (HCP 150, session 2006-07; ISBN 9780102944181) published in January 2007, the Committee's report finds that Ofwat needs to make changes to its regulatory system, in particular on water efficiency, data quality, and enforcement, given the increasing challenges to water supplies due to low rainfall and predictions of housing growth. Ofwat does not understand clearly how consumers use water and has not collected enough robust evidence on which water efficiency projects are most effective in helping consumers to use less water. Despite some progress, Ofwat still depends on unreliable data with regard to both supply and demand, and also needs much better data on per capita consumption. It has had some success in encouraging sustainable investment by companies, but needs to be more active in using sanctions against companies that under-perform against their commitments to meet all reasonable demands for water, while limiting environmental impacts. Ofwat should press companies to encourage more consumers to use meters by, for example, promoting the benefits of metering to consumers as well as routinely installing meters when there is a change of building occupancy.
Download or read book Pension Reform written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Work and Pensions Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-07-22 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government proposed a significant reform of the pensions system in the White Paper 'Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system' (ISBN 0101684126). This report sets out the Committee's response to the proposals. It looks at: personal accounts; existing occupational and private pensions; state pension reform; the state second pension; whether the state pension should remain two-tier; means-testing; how much it will cost; increasing the state pension age; working longer; and public engagement with pensions. Their conclusion is that on the whole the Government's measures are the right way forward.
Download or read book BTEC National written by Debra Gray and published by Heinemann. This book was released on 2004 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by experienced lecturers, these two Student Books and Tutor's Resource File provide your students with everything they need to achieve the BTEC National in Public Services - at Award, Certificate and Diploma Level.
Download or read book The Parliamentary Monitor written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
