Annual Reports
NAO: The Social Fund White Paper Account 2012 -13 records payments made to customers in accordance with Directions issued by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. With a further reduction in errors in 2012-13, he has concluded that the level of error is now no longer material to the Account and that the Department for Work & Pensions has made Social Fund payments materially in accordance with Parliament’s intentions. In consequence, he has decided not to qualify his opinion on regularity for the account.
FSA: The Food Standards Agency has recently published its latest Annual Report of Food Incidents. The report highlights the wide range of incidents managed by the Food Standards Agency during 2012.
NAO: Amyas Morse, the Comptroller & Auditor General, has issued a report on the 2012-13 accounts of HM Revenue & Customs. The report details progress by HMRC in stabilising & operating the PAYE service and its progress towards the implementation of its new Real Time Information service. The report also covers HMRC’s performance in tackling VAT fraud, and in reducing error & fraud in personal tax credits.
CEOP: New trends in child sexual abuse offending and the growing availability of the internet in the developing world are likely to exacerbate the threat to children, the latest findings from the Child Exploitation & Online Protection (CEOP) Centre warn.
In its annual Threat Assessment of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (TACSEA), the use of the ‘hidden internet’ and the live streaming of abuse are identified as new ways that offender’s are sexually abusing children.
HMRC: The first report by the new Tax Assurance Commissioner at HMRC, detailing the department’s new approach to resolving disputes with taxpayers, has been published. The new role was announced in February 2012, as part of a package to strengthen HMRC’s governance arrangements in response to concerns about how tax disputes were handled.
The Tax Commissioner’s report has been published alongside the 2012/13 HMRC annual report and accounts.
Defra: Defra is calling on businesses, local councils & communities to get ready for climate change and extreme weather in a report published last week, as part of the government’s National Adaptation Programme.
The Climate Change Risk Assessment, which was published last year, showed that unless action is taken to respond to climate change, the UK could incur significant costs and miss out on important business opportunities, both at home & abroad.
PC&PE: The Public Accounts Committee has published its 11th Report of this Session, which examines the managing of NHS hospital consultants. The Committee Chair said: “A new contract which increased consultants’ pay by between 24% and 28% failed to halt a continuing decline in productivity. Many of the improvements envisaged by the Department were achieved but that’s because its objectives were absurdly unambitious.
The contract allows consultants to refuse to work during evenings and weekends. As a result, hospitals struggle to provide the appropriate level of consultant-led care for patients. Some trusts even pay up to £200 an hour for additional work which is done at weekends”.
NAO: The head of the National Audit Office, Amyas Morse, recently reported to Parliament the results of his examination of the Section 400 Licence Fees & Penalties account which is prepared by the Office of Communications.
The 2012-13 account includes the proceeds of the recent auction of 4G Spectrum, and yesterday’s NAO report provides assurance to Parliament over the regularity & propriety of the auction transactions, and the adequacy of the governance processes Ofcom developed to support the auction.
HEFCE: A new report examines the degree outcomes & later employment of students who began full-time degree courses in the 2006-07 academic year. Published by the Higher Education Funding Council England, the report allows HEFCE for the first time to map the success of university entrants over time, on the basis of their entry characteristics, degree subject and choice of institution.
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