NAO: The government’s new Financial Transaction Control Framework needs strengthening Opinion The National Audit Office’s new report assesses whether the government’s new Financial Transaction Control Framework offers value for money to the taxpayer, says Rachel Fenn The government plans to increasingly use financial transactions (FTs) – such as loans to businesses or equity investments – to pursue its policy goals. As at March 2024, the government’s [...]
Government urged to rethink digital procurement as ambitions stall The government’s ongoing ambitions for digital transformation risk grinding to a halt unless it overhauls the way it funds and invests in technology, according to a new report from techUK. The body’s recent ‘Financing the Future’ study posited that Whitehall’s procurement system remains too rigid and too focused on short-term products rather than long-term digital outcomes. Instead, [...]
UK research fund suffering from Labour’s lack of strategy, watchdog says Politics The government should give the UK’s largest single public fund for scientific and technological research more deadlines and clearer targets in order for projects to succeed, an independent watchdog has said. The National Audit Office (NAO) said the government should better communicate its policy priorities to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which has a budget [...]
If the NAO is calling for government innovation, you know it’s bad February 10, 2025 Everyone thinks government should be more innovative, but the NAO saying it means Labour really has dithered, writes Eliot Wilson.
UK’s audit chief ‘open to learning’ from Elon Musk’s DOGE in US February 5, 2025 The head of the government’s spending watchdog has said he is open to learning from Elon Musk’s US “department of government efficiency”, or DOGE. Gareth Davies, the UK’s chief auditor, gave his annual speech to Parliament on Tuesday, warning that money was being “wasted” and public services “compromised” as he stressed that there was a [...]
Government must improve its cybersecurity, warns UK watchdog January 29, 2025 The government must fix its significant deficiencies as the cyber threat landscape outpaces its current defensive strategies, UK watchdog has warned. According to Wednesday’s report by the National Audit Office (NAO), the UK has a huge shortage of skilled cyber security professionals within its government departments. Gareth Davies, head of NAO, said: “The risk of [...]
UK ‘lacks understanding’ on tech procurement as taxpayer foots bill January 16, 2025 The UK’s approach to technology procurement ‘lacks understanding’, resulting in costly setbacks whilst leaving its public services on outdated systems. The government has accumulated 29 years of delays across major IT projects and £3bn in cost overruns, according to a recent report by the National Audit Office (NAO). This comes as Keir Starmer recently launched [...]
Spending watchdog refuses to sign off on government accounts November 26, 2024 The spending watchdog has refused to sign off on the government's accounts for the first time due to unreliable data from England's local councils.
Small business tax evasion costing HMRC billions as ‘significant gaps’ persist September 9, 2024 Small business tax evasion has caused the UK to lose billions of pounds of revenue a year as "significant gaps" in the UK's tax authority's strategies persist.
NAO: Crown Court so backlogged that targets are no longer achievable May 24, 2024 The Crown Court backlog is now at its highest on record resulting in the National Audit Office making clear that the Government's targets to cut are no longer achievable