Improving procurement in further education colleges in England

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215036186
Total Pages : 36 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (361 download)

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Book Synopsis Improving procurement in further education colleges in England by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Improving procurement in further education colleges in England written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-04 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2004 Gershon Efficiency Review proposed procurement as one of the main sources of efficiency savings in the public sector. The Learning and Skills Council, which funds England's 384 further education colleges, estimates that from an annual procurement expenditure of £1.6 billion, colleges could make savings of £75 million by March 2008. The savings made by colleges would be available to be redeployed into front-line services for learners. Until recently, many colleges have tended to treat procurement as a low priority and have not taken advantage of modern procurement methods such as purchasing consortia and procurement cards. They now need to modernise their systems so as to maximise the resources available for learning. Colleges increasingly have staff who are capable of managing procurement, but they are too often let down by the low quality of the systems and the management information available to them. There have been recent successes in persuading colleges of the benefits of joining purchasing consortia and using procurement cards. Indeed the savings target of £75 million may prove unambitious in light of the low starting point of many colleges. March 2008, when colleges make their first reports on savings to the Learning and Skills Council, will be a good time to consider whether greater savings can be made to be re-invested into services for learners.

Improving Procurement in Further Education Colleges in England

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 0102943400
Total Pages : 56 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (29 download)

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Book Synopsis Improving Procurement in Further Education Colleges in England by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Improving Procurement in Further Education Colleges in England written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-10-25 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 384 further education colleges in England spend around £1.6 billion each year on procurement services, including administration and general costs, premises costs, non-pay teaching and support services. Procurement expenditure as a percentage of total income averages 25 per cent but varies widely across colleges, with the greatest variation among small and medium-sized colleges. The Learning and Skills Council has estimated that FE colleges could make £75 million efficiency savings by March 2008 through the introduction of more efficient and effective procurement processes. Drawing on good practice guidance from the Office of Government Commerce and on expertise within the National Audit Office gained from its reports on procurement in other sectors, this report makes eight recommendations for improved procurement. The recommendations are based on five key requirements, including: the need for clear leadership from governors and senior managers in improving procurement; information about appropriate methods of procurement; and exploring opportunities to collaborate with others to gain economies of scale when buying goods or services.

Department for Education and Skills departmental report 2007

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780101709224
Total Pages : 176 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (92 download)

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Book Synopsis Department for Education and Skills departmental report 2007 by : Great Britain: Department for Education and Skills

Download or read book Department for Education and Skills departmental report 2007 written by Great Britain: Department for Education and Skills and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-05-17 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dated May 2007. With correction slip dated May 2007

Guide to Financial Management in FE

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Publisher : A&C Black
ISBN 13 : 0826488056
Total Pages : 111 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (264 download)

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Book Synopsis Guide to Financial Management in FE by : Julian Gravatt

Download or read book Guide to Financial Management in FE written by Julian Gravatt and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2007-08-07 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part of a series on further education, this book offers a general introduction to understanding finance and administration. It guides readers through the maze of financial terms, providing advice on 'spreadsheets from hell' and examples of good practice. It also includes a number of time-saving tips and strategies for coping with the admin load.

Estimating and monitoring the costs of building roads in England

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215037084
Total Pages : 52 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (37 download)

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Book Synopsis Estimating and monitoring the costs of building roads in England by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Estimating and monitoring the costs of building roads in England written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-11-08 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department for Transport has approved expenditure of over £11 billion between 1998 and 2021 for the development of new and existing trunk roads and motorways by the Highways Agency, and just under £1.7 billion on major road schemes proposed and developed by local authorities in five year Local Transport Plans. Following on from a NAO report on this topic (HCP 321, session 2006-07; ISBN 9780102944600) published in March 2007, the Committee's report examines the steps taken by the Department for Transport and the Highways Agency to improve value for money and oversight of the roads programme and contracting methods and project management capability. By September 2006, the Agency's 36 completed schemes in the Targeted Programme of Improvement cost 40 per cent more than estimated initially, and for schemes still to be completed, latest forecasts indicate that final costs could be 27 per cent more than original estimates. The main causes for costs exceeding estimates are increases in construction costs, higher than forecast land prices and compensation to landowners, inflation and changes in the scope of the project. The report finds that the DfT has not been rigorous enough in its oversight of the Agency's delivery of major road schemes, allowing it too much latitude on delivery and cost plans, and has failed to monitor in-year expenditure against progress and delivery milestones. The Agency is overly reliant on consultants for project management expertise and needs to develop its in-house capability.

The delays in administering the 2005 Single Payment Scheme in England

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215036179
Total Pages : 70 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (361 download)

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Book Synopsis The delays in administering the 2005 Single Payment Scheme in England by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book The delays in administering the 2005 Single Payment Scheme in England written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-09-06 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The EU Single Payment Scheme replaced 11 previous subsidies to farmers based on agricultural production with one payment for land management. The European Commission gave some discretion to Member States over how to implement the scheme, and the Rural Payments Agency, which is responsible for administering the scheme in England, opted for the dynamic hybrid model which incorporates elements of previous entitlement and new regionalised area payments based on a flat rate per hectare. The Agency and Defra encountered severe problems in the implementation of the scheme in England, and by the end of March 2006, it had paid farmers only 15 per cent of the £1,515 million due, compared with its target of 96 per cent. This caused significant hardship to farmers and taxpayers will have to pay extra implementation costs. Defra has had to secure an extra £300 million to meet the potential cost of disallowance of expenditure by the European Commission arising on the problems in administering the scheme. Following on from a NAO report on this topic (HCP 1631, session 2005-06; ISBN 9780102943399 published in October 2006, as well as a report from the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee (HCP 107-I, session 2006-07, ISBN 9780215033383) published in March 2007, this report by the Public Accounts Committee examines the impact of the payment delays on the farming sector, why implementation failed, the role of Defra and the changes being put in place to rectify the mistakes made. Lessons highlighted include: the Department made the scheme unnecessarily complex by choosing to adopt the most demanding implementation option; the Rural Payments Agency shed too many experienced staff at a key time; implementation of the project started before the scheme specification was finalised; and the IT system was introduced without adequate testing, a failure often seen with government IT projects.

Improving quality and safety - progress in implementing clinical governance in primary care

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215036063
Total Pages : 44 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (36 download)

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Book Synopsis Improving quality and safety - progress in implementing clinical governance in primary care by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Improving quality and safety - progress in implementing clinical governance in primary care written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-09-13 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following serious concerns about clinical and organisational failures in the NHS during the 1990s (such as Alder Hey, the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Shipman), the Government identified the need for a more systematic approach to improving quality and safety in healthcare. The Department of Health introduced clinical governance, a framework through which NHS organisations are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care. Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are responsible for providing primary care services and commissioning services on behalf of their local health economy. This report examines the Department's progress in implementing clinical governance in primary care; the lessons learned; and the risks that will need to be managed if quality and safety are to be embedded in the new PCTs. that clinical governance is not as well established in primary care as in secondary care, largely because of the complexity of PCTs role in both commissioning and providing care; and the independence of contractors delivering healthcare, particularly General Practitioners (GPs). Primary care has also been slower in adopting a structured approach to quality and safety, evident for example in the lack of compliance with national systems reporting of clinical incidents. There is a lack of clarity between PCTs and their contractors as regards accountability for ensuring quality and safety, and scope for greater involvement of patients and the public in ensuring that primary care services are safe and of high quality.

Big science

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215037152
Total Pages : 44 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (371 download)

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Book Synopsis Big science by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Big science written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-11-13 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Government invests in a range of large scientific facilities to support and develop the nation's science base, with over £860 million allocated since 2000 to construct 10 new large scientific projects. These programmes include: a Diamond Synchrotron (costing £383 million) to produce intense X-rays and shorter wavelength emissions for examining structures at molecular and atomic level; a new research ship, RRS James Cook, to conduct oceanographic and marine studies (a budget of £40 million); and a new Antarctic research station (with a budget of £34.7 million) for monitoring climate, ozone and space weather. Following on from a NAO report on this topic (HCP 153, session 2006-07, ISBN 9780102944198) published in January 2007, the Committee's report examines how large scientific facilities are delivered and the how their value is assessed. Findings include that the first two projects have been delivered largely to time and budget, but other projects still at an early stage are forecasting slippage, with five of the six most mature projects forecasting significant increases in the initial estimates for operating costs. Research Councils have not always sufficiently evaluated options for locating new scientific facilities and have had difficulty in attracting a sufficient number of bidders for contracts to help build new facilities. Performance indicators used by the Research Councils and project teams for monitoring the success of these facilities are not always sufficiently comprehensive or measurable, and if the UK is to maximise the value of these facilities, it needs to attract more young people into science to make good use of the research capacity now being built.

The management of staff sickness absence in the Department for Transport and its agencies

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215037213
Total Pages : 52 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (372 download)

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Book Synopsis The management of staff sickness absence in the Department for Transport and its agencies by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book The management of staff sickness absence in the Department for Transport and its agencies written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-11-20 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department of Transport and its seven executive agencies average 10.4 days of sickness for each full-time employee (compared to a Civil Service average of 9.8 days). However the performance is varied. The central Department and four agencies have sickness levels at or below comparable organisations but the Driving Standards Agency and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency have absence rates of 13.1 and 14 day respectively. On the basis of a Comptroller and Auditor General's report the Committee have examined current sickness levels in the Department and actions being taken to meet their 2010 targets. They conclude that the Agencies need a better understanding of why some staff take so much sick leave. Although there appears to be a correlation with low paid repetitive administrative jobs there are also concerns about leadership within the Department. Measures have therefore been taken to strengthen management in areas involving repetitive work.

Managing the defence estate

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215037473
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (374 download)

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Book Synopsis Managing the defence estate by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Managing the defence estate written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-11-29 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has an extensive and complex estate of some 24,000 hectares, and after the Forestry Commission, is the second largest landowner in the UK. The estate is valued at over £18 billion and costs some £3.3 billion to operate. The estate is seen as essential to the delivery of military capability and the welfare and morale of Service personnel. This report, from the Committee of Public Accounts, has taken evidence from the MoD on the standard of living accommodation, the Department's ability to prioritise estate projects effectively, and its response to staff shortages. It follows on from an NAO report (HCP 154, session 2006-7), Managing the Defence Estate: Quality and Sustainability (ISBN 9780102944679). It sets out 9 recommendations, including: more than half of single living accommodation and over 40% of family accommodation does not meet the Department's definition of high-quality accommodation and is therefore substandard; that poor accommodation has a negative impact on retention rates; there is no information on when poor accommodation is to be upgraded, with some military personnel and their families having to continue to live in substandard housing for the next 20 years; there are gaps in the Department's understanding of estate costs; the Department employs only 56% of safety works staff and 57% of quantity surveyors that it needs; that implementing energy saving measures at its' defence sites would bring environmental benefits and savings of more than £2 million annually.

The Thames Gateway

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215037206
Total Pages : 52 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (372 download)

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Book Synopsis The Thames Gateway by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book The Thames Gateway written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-11-15 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Thames Gateway regeneration programme covers the area between Canary Wharf in London and the mouth of the River Thames, one of the most deprived areas in the Greater South East. It aims to create 160,000 new homes and 180,000 new jobs in the area by 2016 and with further development beyond that date. This project is one of 15 mission critical programmes prioritised by the Government and requires broad cross-government working so that new homes are supported by adequate transport, education, health, community, leisure, green space and environmental infrastructure. It is the only large scale regeneration programme managed directly by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Following on from a NAO report (HCP 526, session 2006-07, ISBN 9780102945263) published in May 2007, the Committee's report examines the DCLG's overall management of the programme on four main issues: turning aspirations into plans that are delivered; more integrated and better co-ordinated expenditure; progress on delivering homes and employment opportunities; and achieving high quality and environmentally sustainable development. Conclusions drawn include that the Department's management has been weak and its programme management systems are not commensurate with the programme's size and scale of ambition. Measurable objectives and robust systems to measure progress are lacking, there are concerns over costing and delivery chain issues.and there is a risk that the economic benefits of regeneration will not reach existing residents.

The BBC's management of risk

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215037640
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (376 download)

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Book Synopsis The BBC's management of risk by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book The BBC's management of risk written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-12-06 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Committee of Public Accounts report on "The BBC's management of risk", sets out a number of recommendations on dealing with risk, and what the BBC's Executive Board should implement. Risk comes in different forms, from the risk of damaging the Corporation's reputation as a public service broadcaster to personal risk staff can experience when reporting from dangerous parts of the world. This report follows on from a National Audit Office report of the same title, and is available from the NAO website: http://www.bbcgovernorsarchive.co.uk/docs/reviews/nao_riskmanagement.pdf. Among the recommendations are: that BBC guidance needs a clearer delineation of responsibilities for risk management; that the main themes of risk management are not aligned with corporate objectives; that the BBC should update its assessments of the risks of working in hostile environments, as the abduction of journalist Alan Johnson showed; by failing to comply with its own Broadcasting Code, the BBC was fined by Ofcom over the a live phone-in competition on Blue Peter, and illustrates that some programme makers are ignoring the BBC's own editorial guidelines, exposing the corporation to reputational risk; the BBC has not related its risk to corporate objectives or assigned all risks to named owners; that BBC managers at all levels are not sufficiently engaged in the management of risk; there is still no fully satisfactory regime under which the BBC is accountable to Parliament for the value for money with which it spends licence fee payers money.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215036919
Total Pages : 64 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (369 download)

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Book Synopsis Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-30 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biodegradable materials in landfill sites, such as food, vegetation and paper, generate methane and other emissions to the soil and water which can be harmful to health. The European Union introduced a Directive in 1999 which set maximum allowances for the tonnage of biodegradable municipal waste that each Member State could send to landfill from 2006 onwards. Waste collection and disposal is a key responsibility of the 388 local authorities in England, and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has to work closely with them to enable the United Kingdom to comply with this Directive. Non-compliance could result in a fine of up to £180 million a year. The UK's historic reliance on landfill led to a four year extension to the timetable, but DEFRA took no effective action until 2003. Although 2005-06 saw a reduction of 2.3 million tonnes against the previous year, a further reduction of 4.9 million tonnes will be required to comply with the 2013 maximum allowance set by the EU. Much of the progress made has involved an increase in recycling, due to the public's enthusiasm, but manufacturers and retailers continue to use large amounts of packaging. Recycling alone will be insufficient to comply with the Directive, and new infrastructure - energy-from-waste plants which incinerate, anaerobically digest, or compost waste to generate electricity - will be necessary. But such plants are unpopular and typically take nine years to become operational, and there is a significant risk that many will not be ready in time.

Improving corporate functions using shared services

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102951479
Total Pages : 44 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (514 download)

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Book Synopsis Improving corporate functions using shared services by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Improving corporate functions using shared services written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-11-29 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Corporate services provide often vital support to the delivery of effective and efficient public services, and cover such areas as finance and accounting, human resources, procurement, information technology, facilities and estates management. Sir Peter Gershon's review of public sector efficiency (available on the HM Treasury website, http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/C/A/efficiency_review120704) identified benefits from shared services, but found that departments' efficiency targets did not include savings specifically from shared corporate services. This NAO report has been conducted to take account of developments between the 2004 Spending Review (Cm.6237, ISBN 9780101622728) and the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (Cm. 7227, ISBN 0101722729) on shared services and focuses mainly on finance and human resources, which are generally the more developed areas of shared service in the public sector. The publication is divided into four parts, and looks at general and specific areas, including: the potential of shared services in the public sector; the problems of customer satisfaction experienced by the NHS and HM Prison Service with shared services; the variable progress across government; the lack of a clear overview from the Cabinet Office on shared services. The NAO has also set out 9 recommendations, including: public bodies should streamline their corporate service processes in line with best practice; they should also improve how they analyse the performance of their corporate services and whether there are more cost-effective ways to obtain such services; Departments should increase public transparency of corporate service performance.

Legal Services Commission

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215036384
Total Pages : 48 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (363 download)

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Book Synopsis Legal Services Commission by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Legal Services Commission written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-16 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Family disputes that are resolved through mediation are cheaper, quicker and, according to academic research, less acrimonious than those that are settled through the courts. Despite these advantages, only some 20 per cent of people who are funded by legal aid for family breakdown cases (excluding those involving domestic violence) currently opt for mediation. Following on from a NAO report on this topic (HCP 256, session 2006-07; ISBN 9780102944525), the Committee's report examines the shortcomings of the current system for referring clients to mediation, and the actions the Legal Services Commission has in train to increase referrals to and take-up of mediation services, to improve the quality of mediation offered, and to strengthen the Commission's oversight of solicitors and mediation providers.

The efficiency programme

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215036247
Total Pages : 48 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (362 download)

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Book Synopsis The efficiency programme by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book The efficiency programme written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-11 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government's Efficiency Programme is designed to achieve ongoing efficiency gains across the public sector of £21.5 billion a year by 2007-08 to improve front line services, to reduce Civil Service posts by more than 70,000 and to reallocate a further 13,500 posts to front line services.Departments are responsible for delivering and quantifying the efficiencies achieved while the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) checks the robustness of figures put forward and provides support to help departments deliver their gains. On 26 February the Committee took evidence on the £13.3 billion of annual efficiency gains departments had reported up to 30 September 2006. While some of these reported gains are robust, almost £10 billion of reported efficiency gains remain uncertain. On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General,evidence was taken from OGC and the Treasury on four main issues: the measurement of efficiency gains and headcount reductions; the effects of efficiency projects on service quality; the management of the Programme; and embedding a culture of efficiency into the public sector.

The Academies Programme

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215036445
Total Pages : 54 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (364 download)

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Book Synopsis The Academies Programme by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book The Academies Programme written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-18 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An academy is a new type of school that is publicly funded, supported by one or more sponsors and operates independently of the local authority. Their aim is to raise achievement standards in deprived areas by replacing poorly performing schools or by providing new school places where they are needed. 83 academies were in operation by September 2007, with plans for 200 academies to be opened by 2010 at a capital cost of around £5 billion. Following on from a NAO report on this topic (HCP 254, session 2006-07; ISBN 9780102944426) published in February 2007, the Committee's report examines the progress of the Academies Programme and whether it is on track to achieve its objectives. Findings include: i) the average capital cost of the first new-build academies was £27 million, compared with between £20-22 million for other new secondary schools; ii) exclusions of pupils are higher on average from academies that other schools; and iii) although there are signs of progress being made, such as improvements at GCSE and key stage 3 levels, achievements in literacy and numeracy levels are lower than other secondary schools and it is too early to tell whether rising attainment is sustainable. Academies need to collaborate more with other secondary schools and lessons need to be learned from completed academy projects in terms of improving project management and reducing cost overruns.