Annual Reports

NAO: The National Audit Office has reported that the fragmented nature of farm oversight does not optimise value for money for the taxpayer and continues to burden compliant farmers unnecessarily. The cost to a farm of complying with regulations is on average around a tenth of its net profit.
Press release & links
 
NAO: The National Audit Office has provided the Committee of Public Accounts with a commentary on the first set of data published by the DWP on the number of people who have moved off benefits and into sustained employment as a result of the Work Programme.  The data covers the period June 2011 to July 2012.
Press release & links
 
NO: A new report, published by the Parliamentary Ombudsman, reveals how people are struggling to get government departments & public organisations to put right basic mistakes, causing distress, inconvenience and, in some cases, financial hardship
Press release & links
 
MoD: The Defence Secretary has welcomed Lord Levene's review of progress towards implementing the recommendations of the Defence Reform Review.  In a letter to the Secretary of State, Lord Levene congratulated the Department on strong progress made against the 53 recommendations since the publication of the Defence Reform Report in June 2011.
Press release & links
 
HMIC: A recently published report finds that the police service has responded to the recommendations in HMIC’s 2011 report, Without Fear or Favour: but more needs to be done, and with a greater sense of urgency.
Press release & links ~ Revisiting police relationships: progress report
 
PC&PE: It is ‘not reasonable’ that some home-educated young people have poor access to public examinations, warns the House of Commons Education Committee in a report calling on the Government to ensure fair access and to meet the associated costs.
Press release & links
 
AS: An Audit Scotland report published last week, Health inequalities in Scotland, says that while overall health has improved in the past 50 years, deep-seated inequalities remain.  Deprivation is the key determinant, although age, gender & ethnicity are also factors.  
 
Men in the most deprived areas die 11 years earlier than those in the most affluent, and the gap is 7.5 years for women.  People in deprived areas also have higher rates of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, drug and alcohol misuse, and mental health problems.
Press release & links
 
NAO: A report by the National Audit Office into the customer service performance of HM Revenue & Customs has concluded that, while the department has made some welcome improvements to its arrangements for answering calls from the public, its current performance represents poor value for money for customers
Press release & links
 
CCC: The second report by the Committee on Climate Change assessing the impact of carbon budgets on energy bills confirms that annual household energy bills could increase by £100 in 2020 to support development of low-carbon technologies.
Press release & links
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