National Audit Office National Audit Office Resource Accounts For 2003 04

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Holding Government to Account

Author : Henry C Midgley
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1040266169
Total Pages : 220 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (42 download)

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Book Synopsis Holding Government to Account by : Henry C Midgley

Download or read book Holding Government to Account written by Henry C Midgley and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-12-03 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Audit Office has played an important role in the checks and balances of the UK parliamentary and political system over the last 40 years. This new book, more than just a history of the UK’s supreme audit institution, examines the very definition of accountability through both an historic and an academic lens, critically exploring questions about the role of audit in a democracy and how well it is working. Holding Government to Account draws on several unique sources of evidence, including interviews with senior officials from the National Audit Office and the civil service, as well as senior parliamentarians with experience of the NAO’s relationships with government and legislature. These interviews are supplemented by an analysis of previously unpublished manuscript material in the National Archives, examination of NAO reports and parliamentary and other reports focused on accountability. The book begins with a history of the National Audit Office in the context of the UK’s wider history. It then offers an overview of the constitutional, political and human legacies of the Exchequer and Audit Department, followed by a close examination of the National Audit Office’s leadership and decision-making from inception in 1984 through to the present. The authors conclude with an exploration of the way in which the meaning of public sector audit has evolved over time, in accordance with its wider political, ideological and material context. In doing so, they demonstrate that any question about the National Audit Office’s future and organisation is really a question about what democracy and good government mean in a modern bureaucratic state. Holding Government to Account will be of keen interest to students enrolled in courses on accounting, public administration, law and politics as well as to politicians, civil servants and Supreme Audit Institutions internationally.

National Audit Office - Charity Commission: The Regulatory Effectiveness of the Charity Commossion - HC 813

Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102987164
Total Pages : 52 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (871 download)

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Book Synopsis National Audit Office - Charity Commission: The Regulatory Effectiveness of the Charity Commossion - HC 813 by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book National Audit Office - Charity Commission: The Regulatory Effectiveness of the Charity Commossion - HC 813 written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-12-04 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Charity Commission is not regulating charities effectively and there is a gap between what the public expects of the Commission and what it actually does. The NAO has concluded that the Commission does not do enough to identify and tackle abuse of charitable status. Between 2007-08 and 2013-14, the Commission's annual budget fell 40 per cent in real terms to £22.7 million but the number of main registered charities has remained fairly constant at around 160,000. In response to budget cuts, the Commission has reviewed how it works and successfully reduced demand for its services, but it has not identified what budget it would need to regulate effectively. The Commission makes little use of its enforcement powers, for example suspending only two trustees and removing none in 2012-13. And it can be slow to act when investigating regulatory concerns. The NAO found cases where periods of several months passed during which the Commission took no action. Furthermore, the Charity Commission does not take tough enough action in some of the most serious regulatory cases. It is also reactive rather than proactive, making insufficient use of the information it holds to identify risk. The Charity Commission needs to think radically about alternative ways of meeting its objectives with constrained resources. It also needs to make greater use of its statutory powers in line with its objective of maintaining confidence in the sector; and develop an approach to identify and deal with those few trustees who deliberately abuse charitable status. This report publishes alongside another NAO report, the Cup Trust.

NHS Deficits

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215029577
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (295 download)

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Book Synopsis NHS Deficits by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee

Download or read book NHS Deficits written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-07-03 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NHS Deficits : Sixth report of session 2005-06, Vol. 2: Written Evidence

The Resilience of New Public Management

Author : Irvine Lapsley
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198883811
Total Pages : 401 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (988 download)

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Book Synopsis The Resilience of New Public Management by : Irvine Lapsley

Download or read book The Resilience of New Public Management written by Irvine Lapsley and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2024-02-06 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Resilience of New Public Management examines the role and significance of New Public Management (NPM) in contemporary society, and explores its emergence and resilience. Eminent scholars have said that NPM only existed from 1980-2000, and that we now live in a post-NPM world. This book tells a very different story. Evidence is presented in this book of 40 years of continuous NPM in public services, including government agencies,universities, and health care. NPM has diffused across sectors and globally since the 1980s, and in the process mutated to become modernization. It also coexists with alternative models of managing publicservices, including models such as digital era governance and network governance which were considered replacements for NPM. The capacity of NPM to mutate has caught many of its critics by surprise. This capacity for NPM to reinvent itself includes the adoption of Lean Management, the Toyota Production System. Early NPM adopter countries engaged with the use of Lean Management techniques, but late NPM adopters did not. The most recent alternative to NPM is Trust-based management, which has madesignificant advances in Scandinavian countries. However, Trust-based management is closely linked to proto-NPM and NPM practices and it has itself mutated to present itself as a friendlier and moresupportive version of NPM, which at the very least deserves close scrutiny. The above trends are indicative of the resilience of NPM, and its intuitive appeal for policymakers. Its advocates argue that NPM has the capacity to deliver policy outcomes, but this book shows that such claims and aspirations are not always matched by the evidence of NPM in action.

Financial Management in the NHS

Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780103285177
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (851 download)

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Book Synopsis Financial Management in the NHS by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Financial Management in the NHS written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2005-06-24 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This joint report was prepared by the National Audit Office and the Audit Commission, and contains the findings from the NAO's audit of the NHS summarized accounts and the Audit Commission's appointed auditors' work on the 2003-04 accounts of individual NHS organizations. The report outlines the financial issues facing individual NHS organizations, with an overview of the effects of these issues at national level and how this will affect the national health economy. In 2003-04 the NHS spent a total of £63 billion, with expenditure costs in the NHS rising by 7.3 per cent each year. This will increase the costs to £76 billion for the 2005-06, and £93 billion for 2007-08 periods. Alongside this increasing expenditure, the Government has set out various reform plans, including the establishment of the NHS Foundation Trusts, new staffing contracts, the development of the information technology infrastructure, and the way hospitals are funded. In the Summary of the financial performance for 2003-04 period, the number of bodies failing to achieve a financial balance had increased, along with an increase in the number of bodies with significant financial deficits. In all, 106 NHS bodies failed to achieve an in-year financial balance, and 14% of the Primary Care Trusts failed to keep expenditure within their resource limit, also a small number of NHS bodies are struggling to manage large deficits. The report advocates four key themes for the improvement of financial management: the role of the Board - who should display better oversight and improve their financial acumen; forecasting - NHS bodies should continually test whether cost savings programmes are realistic, and take account more effectively for risk factors in their financial planning, as well as set realistic budgets at the beginning of the year; earlier preparation of accounts - improvements in financial reporting, and the provision of financial information throughout the year should closely reflect the standard and range of information required in the annual accounts; transparency - that boards, managers, stakeholders would benefit from clarity in the way the accounts are organized, and that the amount of financial support received by the trusts should be clearly stated. With the introduction of Payment by Results and the use of independent healthcare providers the income received by NHS Trusts is no longer certain. So overall improvements in their financial forecasting and modeling, with NHS Trusts in particular developing their commercial financial skills, would be beneficial especially if they intend to become foundation trusts.

Managing Risks to Improve Public Services

Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102930368
Total Pages : 88 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (33 download)

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Book Synopsis Managing Risks to Improve Public Services by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Managing Risks to Improve Public Services written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years a great deal of effort has been put into improving risk management in departments and in 2002 this was given further impetus when a two year risk programme was launched by the Prime Minister. This report looks at the progress made since the previous NAO report in 2000 (HC 864 1999-2000, ISBN 0105569488). It is based on a survey of the 20 main Whitehall departments, focus groups of 27 departmental risk managers, comparisons with the private sector, academic research and five case studies. The general conclusion is that significant improvement has been made but more needs to be done to make effective risk management a central part of general management processes. The ability to take risks and innovate, keep projects on track and handle complex service delivery needs to be further developed.

Managing financial resources to deliver public services

Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102952926
Total Pages : 52 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (529 download)

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Book Synopsis Managing financial resources to deliver public services by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Managing financial resources to deliver public services written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008-02-20 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines the management of financial resources to deliver better public services effectively. Divided into four parts, with appendices, it looks at the following areas: Part 1: The importance of managing financial resources; Part 2: Developing the skills and awareness necessary for effective financial resource management; Part 3: Improving departments' use of techniques and practices for managing financial resources; Part 4: The impact of improved management and financial resources. Financial rsource management is relevant to every aspect of a Government department's business. By 2010-11, central government spending is forecast to grow to £678 billion, which represents £11,000 for every person in the UK. The NAO has set out a number of findings and recommendations, including: that the lack of financial skills and awareness amongst non-finance staff remains a significant barrier to improving the management of financial resources across government; that some departments lack a qualified Finance Director at Board level; that senior managers in many departments are not provided with incentives to promote sound management of financial resources; that Departments could do more to improve their forecasting capabilities; that some Departments are not sufficiently well placed to integrate financial and operational performance information; that many Departments do not always ensure the full assessment of the financial implications of policy proposals.

The Stationery Office Annual Catalogue 2008

Author : U K Stationery Office
Publisher : Stationery Office Annual Catal
ISBN 13 : 9780115010507
Total Pages : 612 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis The Stationery Office Annual Catalogue 2008 by : U K Stationery Office

Download or read book The Stationery Office Annual Catalogue 2008 written by U K Stationery Office and published by Stationery Office Annual Catal. This book was released on 2009-11 with total page 612 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No public library discount on this title.

Financial Management in the Home Office

Author : Great Britain. National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102955002
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (55 download)

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Book Synopsis Financial Management in the Home Office by : Great Britain. National Audit Office

Download or read book Financial Management in the Home Office written by Great Britain. National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Home Office has made substantial improvements in its financial management since 2006, when the Comptroller and Auditor General disclaimed an opinion on its 2004-05 Resource Accounts. Further sustained improvement will still be needed over the next few years, so that good financial management becomes "business as usual" across all of the Department's operations, which will help the Department maximise the value for money of its service delivery. The Department has increased the number of professionally qualified finance staff, particularly in senior finance roles, and has improved financial governance and leadership. Improvements are also evident in the Department's financial planning and decision making; budgeting; financial monitoring and forecasting; and financial reporting. The unqualified audit opinion on its 2007-08 Resource Accounts was an important symbol of the progress made. There are areas for further improvement. The strategic management of the Department's capital programme has not been responsive enough to avoid large underspends, which amounted to £725 million over the 5 years to 31 March 2008. The Treasury has capped access to these funds at £292 million and the Department will need to deliver on the plans it has in place to use them by 2010-11. The Department also needs to develop further its understanding of the cost of its activities and the relationship between resource consumption and service outcomes. The Department recognises these issues and has been undertaking work with the aim of improving capital programme management and the basis on which decisions are made for funding allocations.

VAT on E-commerce

Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 0102938024
Total Pages : 48 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (29 download)

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Book Synopsis VAT on E-commerce by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book VAT on E-commerce written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-05-26 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The value of internet sales (known as e-commerce) in the UK has more than trebled between 2002 and 2004 to £18.1 billion, with a further surge around Christmas 2005, and this level is expected to rise to nearly £60 billion a year by 2010. It is estimated that in 2005-06 HM Revenue and Customs collected over £1 billion in VAT on e-commerce goods and services. HM Revenue and Customs does not separately identify the exact amount of VAT collected from e-commerce because businesses are required to calculate and pay over VAT for their entire taxable activities, which include both traditional forms of business and e-commerce. In light of these developments, this NAO report examines the implications of the growth in e-commerce for VAT collection and the approach of HM Revenue and Customs to VAT collection. The report finds that HM Revenue and Customs has been alert to emerging areas of risk, such as the failure of e-commerce businesses to register for VAT and the non-payment or underpayment of import VAT on goods ordered over the internet from outside the EU. The report supports the assessment by HM Revenue and Customs that the overall risk to VAT revenue from on-line shopping is currently low, but as activity increases in this fast changing environment, it will be important that the Department builds on its work to keep abreast of possible changes in the patterns and levels of risk to VAT.

Financial management in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102955019
Total Pages : 36 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (55 download)

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Book Synopsis Financial management in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Financial management in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009-06-03 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has made good progress in its financial management, aiming to establish itself as one of the best departments in Whitehall in this respect. It has shown strong leadership in raising the profile of good financial management across the Department. Up to 2007-08, however, the FCO has underspent consistently against its budget. The Department has introduced a financial management improvement programme "Five Star Finance", the aim of which is for the department to be a Whitehall leader in financial management. It currently rates itself at three and a half stars on a 1(low) to 5 (high) scale, a rating confirmed by NAO. The FCO operates in a challenging environment in terms of the global nature of its operations. The fluctuations of global currency markets pose particular difficulties for the Department. Until 2007-08, its budgets were protected by the Treasury from exchange rate fluctuations. When this protection was withdrawn, the FCO introduced alternative measures to manage its exposure, principally the forward purchase of major foreign currencies. It needs to ensure that its finance team has the right skills and experience to manage the financial risks it now faces. The FCO is taking action to avoid future underspends against its budget. In other respects, FCO's financial management has improved. The accuracy, reliability and timeliness of its financial reporting have all been enhanced. In 2007-08 it laid its accounts on 30 June, the earliest date it has ever achieved after the March year-end.

Public Expenditure on Health and Personal Social Services 2006

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 0215031431
Total Pages : 299 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis Public Expenditure on Health and Personal Social Services 2006 by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee

Download or read book Public Expenditure on Health and Personal Social Services 2006 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-11-21 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This memorandum contains the replies received from the Department of Health to a series of questions tabled by the Select Committee, on a wide range of issues grouped under the headings of: expenditure; investment, including the private finance initiative (PFI); NHS Plan and reforms, including staffing, pay and contracts, treatment outside the NHS, and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE); breakdown of spending programme; activity, performance and efficiency; and departmental annual report.

EBOOK: Quality, Risk and Control in Health Care

Author : Ellie Scrivens
Publisher : McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN 13 : 0335227813
Total Pages : 200 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (352 download)

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Book Synopsis EBOOK: Quality, Risk and Control in Health Care by : Ellie Scrivens

Download or read book EBOOK: Quality, Risk and Control in Health Care written by Ellie Scrivens and published by McGraw-Hill Education (UK). This book was released on 2004-11-16 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “With better governance a key issue in the NHS boardroom, this book provides a comprehensive underpinning to future developments.” Roger Moore, Chief Executive, NHS Appointments Commission, UK "This book provides a much needed integration of different streams in the quality movement, examining the need and methods for control and accountability as well as the continuous improvement approach." John Ovretveit, The Karolinska Institute Medical Management Centre, Stockholm, Sweden “This excellent book is both informative and challenging…[it] helps us work our way through the contradictory and often inconsistent health maze that is bound by quality, risk, control, governance, trust, regulation, private activity, accountability, assurance and outcome.” Adam Graycar, Cabinet Office of South Australia This book explores the concepts of trust, control and risk management as key components of organisational accountability in the public sector. It explores how the concept of risk management has been introduced into the public sector and how this has impacted on the definition of governance in the National Health Service. It also addresses the concept of controls assurance by placing it in the context of developments both in local health care management and central government. Key questions that are addressed include: ·How can devolved public sector organisations be held accountable? · What is the relationship between risk, control and governance? ·How do private sector ideas about governance translate into the provision of public health services? Quality, Risk and Control in Health Care is essential reading for health policy makers, health practitioners and professionals, as well as students and academics in the fields of health policy, health services management, social policy and public policy.

Progress in Tackling Benefit Fraud

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215521576
Total Pages : 52 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (215 download)

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Book Synopsis Progress in Tackling Benefit Fraud by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Progress in Tackling Benefit Fraud written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Benefit fraud is a crime and undermines public confidence in the benefits system. In 2006-07, the Department for Work and Pensions estimated that it spent some £154 million on tackling fraud, identifying £106 million of overpaid benefit, against total benefit expenditure of £120 billion. The Department estimates that fraud fell from £2 billion in 2001-02 to £800 million in 2006-07, which is 0.6% of benefit expenditure. But the Department must do more to reverse the rise in official and customer error. Estimated error rose from £1 billion in 2001-02 to £1.9 billion in 2006-07. Benefit complexity is believed to be a major cause of error. Increasing the volume of pre-payment checks and encouraging customers to receive benefit payments directly into their bank accounts has prevented some fraud. The Department now works closely with the police, the Serious Organised Crime Agency and local authorities to prevent, identify and act against fraud. But it could make more effective use of its powers and resources. While the Department successfully prosecutes 90 per cent of the cases it takes to court, the Prosecution Division has lost 17 per cent of its staff since 2003. Debt recovery is an essential part of tackling fraud, yet in 2006-07 the Department only recovered £22 million of fraud debt out of a known fraud debt stock of £339 million. The Department has been slow to improve its management information systems, hampering its ability to measure the cost-effectiveness of counter-fraud activities. It has taken from 2003 until February 2008 to roll out a new national management information system, known as FRAIMS, at a cost of £65 million.

Agile Project Management for Government

Author : Brian Wernham
Publisher : Maitland and Strong
ISBN 13 : 0957223404
Total Pages : 372 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (572 download)

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Book Synopsis Agile Project Management for Government by : Brian Wernham

Download or read book Agile Project Management for Government written by Brian Wernham and published by Maitland and Strong. This book was released on 2012 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Governments on both sides of the Atlantic have committed to introducing agile change management for faster results with cheaper implementation at lower risk. The first hands-on guide is designed to help public sector leaders reap the rewards of agile methods, based on the latest national and international research.

Improving services and support for people with dementia

Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 0102945616
Total Pages : 76 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (29 download)

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Book Synopsis Improving services and support for people with dementia by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Improving services and support for people with dementia written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-07-04 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dementia is a term for a range of progressive, terminal organic brain diseases, including Alzheimer's. Some 560,000 people in England are estimated to have dementia, with a steeply rising trend over the coming years. Some 476,000 people are unpaid carers of people with dementia. Direct costs to the NHS and social care are currently at least £3.3 billion a year, but the overall annual economic burden is estimated at £14.3 billion. This report examines what health and social care services are available for people with dementia and their unpaid carers in England and whether they are providing effective and good quality support. Until 2005 the Department of Health attached little priority to dementia, and progress was hampered by a lack of good quality data, by stigma, and by the low level of political and national focus on older people's mental health. The NAO conclude that services are not currently delivering value for money to taxpayers or people with dementia and their families. Whilst health and social care services are spending significantly on dementia, spending is late - too few people are being diagnosed or being diagnosed early enough. Early interventions that are known to be cost-effective, and which would improve quality of life, are not being made widely available. Services in the community, care homes and at the end of life are not delivering consistently or cost-effectively against the objective of supporting people to live independently as long as possible in the place of their choosing. The rapid ageing of the population means costs will rise and services are likely to become increasingly inconsistent and unsustainable without redesign. Recommendations cover: improving diagnosis and early intervention; improving management of services; gearing the system to respond to the major challenges of dementia in the future.

Returning Failed Asylum Applicants

Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 0102933405
Total Pages : 64 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (29 download)

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Book Synopsis Returning Failed Asylum Applicants by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Returning Failed Asylum Applicants written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2005-07-19 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This NAO report examines the system for ensuring the return of failed asylum applicants, including the problems in estimating the number of failed applicants due for removal; the need for prompt action to remove failed applicants, whether the Immigration and Nationality Directorate has sufficient capacity to meet its targets; and the Directorate's arrangements for monitoring its performance. The NAO report estimates that, at the end of May 2004, between 155,000 and 283,500 potentially removable failed asylum applicants may have remained in the UK, of whom around half went through the application process more than three years previously. It finds that, although the Directorate has made progress, the number of people removed or returning voluntarily each month is still less than the number of unsuccessful cases, and highlights a number of areas where further improvements should be made if the Directorate is to meet its targets and reduce the backlog. These include the need to improve the tracking and management of cases and to do more to encourage failed asylum applicants to return home voluntarily.