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Resources for Parliament

The National Audit Office (NAO) works on behalf of Parliament and the taxpayer to hold government to account for the use of public money and to help public services improve performance. The relationship with Parliament is central to the roles of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) and NAO.

We look to place our skills at the service of Parliament as a whole, supporting the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), other select committees from both Houses and individual Members in their scrutiny of public expenditure and service delivery.

Our work

The C&AG is a statutory Officer of the House of Commons and the results of our work are presented to Parliament by Order of the House of Commons.

Our reports

We published over 60 major reports to Parliament and audited some 430 accounts to Parliament in 2013/14. We also provided 20 Select Committees with a wide range of support in addition to our core work for PAC. Our latest Select Committee reports include:

• A Short Guide to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
  The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
• A Short Guide to the Department for Education
  The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
• A Short Guide to the Ministry of Defence
  The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
• A Short Guide to the Department of Business Innovation & Skills
  The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
• A Short Guide to the Home Office
  The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
• A Short Guide to the Department of Energy & Climate Change
  The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
• A Short Guide to the Department for International Development
  The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
• A Short Guide to the Department for Work and Pensions
  The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
• A Short Guide to the Department for Culture, Media & Sport
  The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
• A Short Guide to the Ministry of Justice
  The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
• One HMG Overseas
  The NAO’s briefing on One HMG Overseas, for the Foreign Affairs Committee, assesses progress on each of the five strands of work in One HMG Overseas.
• Progress on the Sellafield site: an update
  The NAO has yesterday published an update for the Public Accounts Committee, detailing developments in the management of the Sellafield site, the UK’s largest and most hazardous nuclear site, and the extent to which progress has been made in decommissioning and cleaning it up.
• Sustainability reporting in central government: An update
  This briefing, prepared for the Environmental Audit Committee, provides an update on the quality of sustainability reporting by central government departments. It includes a review of current and planned requirements.
• The Home Office’s oversight of forensic services
  This briefing for the Commons Science and Technology Committee sets out the results of a review of the data available to the Home Office to help it oversee the forensics market; the adequacy of the data the Home Office has available; current trends in the forensics market and associated risks; and the Home Office’s response to the Committee’s previous recommendations on this matter.
• NAO Briefing: Environmental protection
  The National Audit Office has prepared this briefing on environmental protection for the Environmental Audit Committee. It is a follow up to the environmental protection briefing which the NAO prepared for the Committee in August 2010, and focusses on the progress made by the government in this area since 2010.
• Electricity Balancing Services
  Electricity cannot be stored economically in large quantities, and electricity supply and demand throughout the UK must therefore be balanced on a second by second basis. As System Operator, National Grid is responsible for doing this, and it uses a variety of mechanisms which are collectively known as Balancing Services.
• Review of the VFM assessment process for PFI
  The Treasury Committee asked the National Audit Office to undertake an analysis of the VFM assessment process and model for PFI. The assessment process combines a quantitative and qualitative approach to VFM appraisal. Our review focused, primarily, on the use of the financial model in the VFM assessment process and was submitted to the Treasury Committee as part of their inquiry into PF2.
• Departmental Sustainability Overview: Home Office
  This briefing responds to a request from the Environmental Audit Committee to review sustainability at the Home Office. It follows a similar format to our report on sustainability at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and thus covers all aspects of the Department's activities: governance, policy, operations and procurement.
• Briefing to support the International Development Committee’s inquiry into the Department for International Development’s Annual Report and Accounts 2012‑13
  This briefing complements the Departmental Overview prepared for the Department for International Development and covers specific topics of particular interest to the International Development Committee, including trends in DFID’s expenditure and total UK Official Development Assistance; and the Department's progress in managing the delivery of the government's target to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income on UK Official Development Assistance in 2013.
• Public funding for innovation in low carbon technologies in the UK
   
• Departmental Sustainability Overview: Business, Innovation and Skills
  This briefing responds to a request from the Environmental Audit Committee to review sustainability within the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
• NAO memorandum: Research and Development funding for science and technology
  This memorandum was prepared for the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. It provides an overview of Research and Development (R&D) spending in the UK since 1995, details the flow of funding from public and private sources, and compares R&D spending in the UK with spending in other countries.
• Briefing for the Environmental Audit Committee – Carbon Budget Management
  The UK is committed, under the Climate Change Act 2008, to cutting carbon emissions by at least 34 per cent by 2020 and by at least 80 per cent by 2050 compared to a 1990 baseline.
• Briefing to support the International Development Committee’s inquiry into the Multilateral Aid Review
  This briefing by the National Audit Office is designed to support the International Development Committee’s inquiry into the Department for International Development's Multilateral Aid Review (MAR).
• Access to clinical trial information and the stockpiling of Tamiflu
  There is broad agreement that Tamiflu reduces the length of illness, but the consensus breaks down on whether it prevents serious complications and deaths.
  HC: 125, 2013-14

View our full list of Select Committee reports.

We produce performance briefings to assist Select Committees’ annual oversight of departments’ performance, the latest of which include:

• Departmental Overview: The performance of HM Revenue & Customs 2013-14
  This Departmental Overview is one of 17 we have produced covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the HM Revenue & Customs 2013-14
• Departmental Overview: The performance of the Department for Culture, Media & Sport 2013-14
  This Departmental Overview is one of 17 we have produced covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the Department for Culture, Media & Sport 2013-14.
• Departmental Overview: The performance of the Ministry of Defence 2013-14
  This Departmental Overview is one of 17 we are producing covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the Ministry of Defence during 2013-14.
• Departmental Overview: The performance of the Department of Health 2013-14
  This Departmental Overview is one of 17 we have produced covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the Department for Health.
• Departmental Overview: The performance of the Department for International Development 2013-14
  This Departmental Overview is one of 17 we have produced covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the Department for International Development 2013-14.

View our full list of departmental overviews.

To keep up to date with all our publications follow the links below:

• Publications – our reports and press notices
• Work in progress – our upcoming work

MPs and researchers who wish to be added to our press notice list should email our press office atpressoffice@nao.gsi.gov.uk

Enquiries from MPs

We also deal with a complex and wide range of enquiries from Members of Parliament which on occasion may lead to a full value for money report.