Annual Reports
NAO: The National Offender Management Service, an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice, faces substantial financial & operational challenges, including a vulnerability to unexpected changes in the prison population, and will find it more difficult to meet its savings targets following decisions to drop some sentencing reforms designed to reduce the size of the prison population.
TUC: Many of the recent increases in women's employment levels have been in self-employment & involuntary part-time work, which pose a threat to their pay & job security, according to the TUC's latest economic report. The report, published to coincide with a TUC seminar on women's work & benefits at its headquarters in London last week, looks at male & female employment trends since the recession.
AC: NHS finances are healthy overall, but a growing number of organisations are in deficit, a new Audit Commission report says. NHS financial year 2011/12, finds that primary care trusts (PCTs), strategic health authorities and NHS trusts reported a combined under-spend & surplus of £1.6bn in 2011/12. Most NHS trusts reported an improved financial position in 2011/12.
However, the number of NHS trusts & foundation trusts in deficit increased from 13 in 2010/11 to 31 in 2011/12. 32 NHS trusts reported a reduced surplus compared to 2010/11 and a further 7 deteriorated to the point of reporting a deficit. The report shows stark differences in health finances around the country, with the majority of NHS trusts in deficit located in London and the south-east.
Monitor: Monitor has placed 11 foundation trusts in significant breach of their terms of authorisation on financial grounds. These decisions were taken & announced at various points over the last 3 years. The most recent was Derby Hospitals in January 2012.
These challenged trusts represent less than 1 in 10 of the 144 trusts with foundation status, which gives them greater freedom to run their own affairs and respond to local demand. Since the first foundation trusts were created 8 years ago, the sector has expanded and now comprises about two-thirds of all NHS-funded secondary care providers, responsible for about 1,000 hospitals. The Government wants the remaining 98 NHS trusts to achieve foundation status.
BIS: The UK is ranked 12th (down from 7th last year) out of 144 countries included in the Economic Freedom of the World: 2012 Annual Report, released last week by the Fraser Institute in conjunction with the Institute of Economic Affairs.
CO: UK government team is to sell its expertise worldwide after saving the UK taxpayer £ms. The Nudge Unit which develops ways to improve public services through individual decision-making has identified public savings of at least £300m since its launch in 2010.
The methods of the unit, which is formally known as the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), have sparked interest from foreign governments & organisations interested in adopting its cost effective techniques. The BIT will now be able to provide services to other governments & bodies, on a charge-for basis, where there is a clear social purpose. The latest BIT annual update is now available.
ONS: Last week the Office for National Statistics published the article ‘Measuring National Well-being: Personal finance’ as part of the series analysing the domains selected to measure national well-being. It shows that after taking account of prices inflation the median income for a household in the UK had fallen from £373 per week in 2009/10 to £359 per week in 2010/11. Increases in inflation have outweighed the rise in income, with income buying less due to higher prices, resulting in households being squeezed financially.
TfL: Transport for London (TfL) is set to publish regular reports on customer complaints (and steps being taken to address them) as part of its drive to become a more transparent & responsive organisation. The first report has just been published.
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