Holding Government to Account

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Author :
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 These interviews are supplemented by an analysis of previously unpublished manuscript material in the National Archives, examination of NAO reports and parliamentary and other reports focused on accountability.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.

The 2008 Budget

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215514554
Total Pages : 174 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (145 download)

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Book Synopsis The 2008 Budget by : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Treasury Committee

Download or read book The 2008 Budget written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Treasury Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines the forecasts and measures contained in the 2008 Budget (HC 455, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780102953336). The Treasury's lower forecasts for economic growth in 2008 and 2009 are above the average of independent forecasters, suggesting that the Treasury may have given insufficient weight to the risks of continued financial market turbulence and that some of the UK economy's characteristics that have proven beneficial in past crises (rapidly rising residential property prices, close links with the US and an increasing reliance on the financial services industry, for example) might prove to be conduits through which the current problems in global financial markets are transmitted to the UK real economy. The further weakening of the forecasts for the public finances is noted, and it appears premature for the Treasury to state that it is "on course" to meet the golden rule in the next economic cycle, given the lack of an end date for the previous economic cycle. Measures on child poverty are welcomed, but there is a need for a clear explanation on deployment of resources to ensure that the target to halve child poverty by 2010-11 will be achieved. The abolition of the 10 pence rate of income tax will most affect those under 65 years of age, in childless households, earning under £18,500: the Committee feels this group is an unreasonable target for raising additional tax revenues. The Treasury should commission research into whether the withdrawal of the 10 pence income tax band and high marginal deduction rates are creating disincentives that could frustrate the Government's welfare to work objectives. The Committee also calls for a national Saving Gateway targeted at low-income households and more consideration of tax changes on the middle and lower income groups of non-domiciled taxpayers.

Progress in improving financial management in Government

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102969528
Total Pages : 36 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (695 download)

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Book Synopsis Progress in improving financial management in Government by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Progress in improving financial management in Government written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-03-03 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite good progress in improving the professional capability and capacity of government finance departments since the National Audit Office last reported in 2008, good financial management is still not embedded in the civil service culture, and financial matters do not have sufficient influence over departments' strategic decision making. The NAO concludes that departments have achieved a core level of competence in financial management, but further improvement in financial management capacity and capability throughout their organisations is required to enable them to meet the challenge of delivering the savings set out in the Spending Review 2010. There has been important progress - all departments now have a professionally qualified Finance Director, supported by an increased number of qualified finance staff. The Treasury is also implementing accounting changes to bring greater transparency to government financial reporting. Whitehall's central finance functions competently capture and report the transactions and financial position of the departments. Annual accounts are delivered before the July Parliamentary recess. The number of overall overspends against the amounts approved by Parliament is low. However, departments are generally weak at monitoring their balance sheets and at forecasting cash flow in the medium term. Departments do not fully understand the costs of their activities, and it is rare for them to have good information on the unit costs of outputs, levels of productivity or the value of outcomes. Departments generally focus on monitoring against the agreed one-year budget, with a few looking as far ahead as the current spending review period of four years.

DFID's performance in 2008-09 and the 2009 White Paper

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215544582
Total Pages : 70 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (445 download)

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Book Synopsis DFID's performance in 2008-09 and the 2009 White Paper by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee

Download or read book DFID's performance in 2008-09 and the 2009 White Paper written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-03-11 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DFID is right to focus more resources on fragile states if global poverty reduction goals are to be met. However, this report highlights a number of concerns about DFID's capacity to meet this and other new policy directions set out in the 2009 White Paper (Cm. 7656, ISBN 9780101765626), based on analysis of the Department's performance in 2008-09 (the Department's annual report 2008-09 published as HC 867-I,II, ISBN 9780102962154). Climate change, another key White Paper focus area, threatens progress on poverty reduction and will hit the poorest people first and hardest. The outcome of the Copenhagen Conference in December 2009 was disappointing and real progress needs to be made before the next conference at the end of this year. The White Paper also indicates that DFID will channel more funding through multilateral organisations including the EU, the UN and the World Bank. This offers the prospect of more coordinated delivery of aid, but only if these bodies increase their effectiveness and their poverty focus. The report also argues for speedier reform of the governance of the international financial institutions. The recession has had a significant impact on developing countries. It is estimated that an additional 90 million people will be affected by poverty as a combined result of the global food, financial and fuel crises over the last few years. Donors, including the UK, have responded and have sought to identify specific needs in developing countries, though many donors are failing to meet the aid commitments they have already made.

The cost of public service pensions

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102963571
Total Pages : 44 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (635 download)

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Book Synopsis The cost of public service pensions by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book The cost of public service pensions written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-03-12 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There has been much public discussion about the affordability of public service pensions. This National Audit Office report aims to bring greater transparency to, and understanding of, the cash costs involved. Total payments to more than 2 million pensioners in the UK's four largest pay-as-you-go pension schemes (also known as unfunded schemes - where current employee and employer contributions are used to pay current pensions) were £19.3 billion in 2008-09, a real terms increase of 38 per cent since 1999-2000. This is driven by more employees retiring each year, which is a substantially more significant factor than longer lifespans. Employee contributions of £4.4 billion reduced the taxpayer's share of costs to £14.9 billion in 2008-09. The employee element grew by 56 per cent in real terms since 1999-2000 because staff numbers and contribution rates have increased. The report also looks at projections of payments across all UK public sector pay-as-you-go pension schemes over the next fifty years. Expressed in terms of constant 2008-09 prices, the Government Actuary's Department projects total payments rising to over £79 billion a year by 2059-60. The Treasury has a reasonable framework in place for assessing future costs and has undertaken some analysis on the sensitivity of projections to changes in key assumptions. The Treasury has not undertaken any systematic analysis of the effects of changing its assumption that there will be zero public service headcount growth, despite the existence of several factors that could put upwards pressure on staff numbers in the long term.

Ministry of Defence annual report and accounts 2008-09

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215544063
Total Pages : 92 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (44 download)

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Book Synopsis Ministry of Defence annual report and accounts 2008-09 by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Defence Committee

Download or read book Ministry of Defence annual report and accounts 2008-09 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Defence Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-02-24 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines the administration, expenditure, activities and achievements of the MoD during the 2008-09 financial year, as detailed in the Ministry of Defence annual report and accounts 2008-09 (ISBN 9780102962239). It continues a series of inquiries and, indeed, the Committee sees it as cause for concern that the NAO found the need to qualify the MoD's resource accounts for the third consecutive year. Whilst it is acknowledged that capability in theatre must be the Department's first concern, failing to maintain accurate and full information on personnel and to keep track of assets has the potential to threaten the long-term capability of the Department, including operational capability.

Financial management report

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102965339
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (653 download)

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Book Synopsis Financial management report by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Financial management report written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-07-06 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ministry of Justice has made progress in improving its financial management, but it falls short of best practice in the consistency of its financial management approach, its understanding of its costs and the integration of its financial management systems and processes. The Ministry has made an important step forward in establishing a Value for Money Improvement Committee. This will assist the Ministry in delivering its future efficiency programme; integrating its financial systems; improving its cost data; and enhancing its internal financial management reporting. However, the Ministry is yet to produce a clear action plan to deliver its financial management initiatives and needs to do so over the next four months to demonstrate its commitment to continuing to improve its financial management. The Ministry does not yet understand, in sufficient detail, the costs of its activities within its prisons, the probation service and the courts. Procurement systems have been overhauled but this still leaves the 40 per cent of the Ministry's cost base relating to staff time. To address this, the Ministry has introduced major programmes to understand the costs of its activities in the National Offender Management Service and HM Courts Service but they are not due to be completed until at least 2012. The National Audit Office also notes that the Ministry's Finance Directorate does not have sufficient visibility of the costs of its policy proposals, reducing the effectiveness of the Ministry's financial control of its forward policy agenda.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report 2008-09

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215544940
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (449 download)

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Book Synopsis Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report 2008-09 by : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Foreign Affairs Committee

Download or read book Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report 2008-09 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The FCO departmental report and resource accounts 2008-09 published as HC 460-I,II (ISBN 9780102961614)

The work of committees in 2008-09

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215544742
Total Pages : 164 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (447 download)

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Book Synopsis The work of committees in 2008-09 by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Liaison Committee

Download or read book The work of committees in 2008-09 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Liaison Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-03-16 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: work of committees In 2008-09 : Second report of session 2009-10, report, together with formal minutes and Appendices

Financial management in the European Union

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102965247
Total Pages : 42 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (652 download)

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Book Synopsis Financial management in the European Union by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Financial management in the European Union written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-06-11 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There has been a detectable improvement over the years in the financial management of European funds across the European Union. This title reports that the European Court of Auditors provided a positive Statement of Assurance, without qualification, on the reliability of the European Union's accounts for 2008.

Managing staff costs in central government

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102969542
Total Pages : 44 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (695 download)

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Book Synopsis Managing staff costs in central government by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Managing staff costs in central government written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-03-11 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The total costs of central government staff grew by 10 per cent in real terms in the ten years to 2009-10, with current costs totalling £16.4 billion. Over the same period, staff numbers fell by 1 per cent, from 497,000 full time equivalents to 493,000. The growth in staff costs is largely the result of an unplanned increase in the number of staff in higher grades. Between March 2001 and March 2010, the number of administrative grade staff declined. But all higher grades grew in number, with Civil Service management grades 6 and 7 showing a 67 per cent increase (around 14,000 posts). This change in grade mix accounts directly for approximately 50 per cent of the staffing cost increase. Some 35 per cent of the real terms increase in staff costs is due to increases in salaries and performance-related pay. A range of immediate central actions in response to spending pressures has been announced, including freezes on pay and recruitment. But the longer term reductions in staff costs required by the 2010 Spending Review will be the responsibility of departments and agencies, and many do not have a comprehensive understanding of their own staff costs or skills in order to support this cost reduction activity adequately. The scale of staff cost reductions is unlikely to be achieved by natural turnover alone. Despite proposed changes to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, the up-front costs of voluntary or compulsory redundancy schemes and early retirements will be significant.

Strategic financial management of the defence budget

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102965377
Total Pages : 36 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (653 download)

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Book Synopsis Strategic financial management of the defence budget by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Strategic financial management of the defence budget written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-07-21 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ministry of Defence does not place sufficient emphasis on financial management in its decision making and the finance function at the MOD does not have as central role in strategic planning as it should have. Annual financial plans at the MOD have been over-committed. By the end of July 2009, the budget for the Department was exceeded by its forecast for the rest of that year by £700 million. When the assumptions underlying the plan for 2010-11 were reassessed, the forecast deficit grew from £185 million to over £500 million. The Department should make choices in setting its budgets and priorities and could use financial management more effectively to address those factors which are within its control. The shortfalls in financial management have significant consequences. The over-commitment in future spending plans has led to additional savings being necessary. During 2009-10, the Department had to find additional savings of £800 million to bring its planned expenditure back into line with its budgets. Finding these reductions mid-year is a time-consuming and destabilising exercise. Many areas have to revisit or adjust their plans leading to delays, material changes to project specifications and costly renegotiation of contracts with industry. Delaying projects also leads to significant increases in the project cost. The forthcoming Strategic Defence and Security Review will provide an opportunity for the Department to rebalance its future spending plans in the short term. Over the longer term, however, the challenge for the MOD will be to ensure that these plans remain in balance.

Minimising the cost of administrative errors in the benefits system

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102965568
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (655 download)

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Book Synopsis Minimising the cost of administrative errors in the benefits system by : Great Britain: National Audit Office

Download or read book Minimising the cost of administrative errors in the benefits system written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-11-25 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2009-10 the Department for Work and Pensions overpaid its customers by an estimated £1.1 billion and made underpayments of £500 million. However, the scale of the challenge faced by the Department should not be underestimated. The benefits system is large, encompassing over 27 different benefits and a total caseload of around 20 million people. In addition, the Department has had to respond to the recent recession in which Jobseekers Allowance caseload almost doubled between 2008 and 2009. The recent announcement of the introduction of Universal Credit is an opportunity to simplify many of the regulations, but such changes will take a long time to implement. In the meantime, the onus remains on the Department to keep the costs of mistakes to a minimum. The Department has demonstrated a clear commitment to reducing administrative error, but there is scope for improvement in the quality of information used to assess where the Department should focus its efforts. Although DWP has initiated an exercise to understand fully the causes of error, this will not be complete until the spring of 2011. There is also scope for further work in collecting and analysing the full costs and benefits of the Department's interventions in order to assess cost effectiveness. The Government announced a new strategy in October 2010 with a greater emphasis on preventing errors from arising and this is now an opportunity for lessons to be learned.

Administration and Expenditure of the Chancellor's Departments, 2007-08

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215526014
Total Pages : 174 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (26 download)

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Book Synopsis Administration and Expenditure of the Chancellor's Departments, 2007-08 by : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Treasury Committee

Download or read book Administration and Expenditure of the Chancellor's Departments, 2007-08 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Treasury Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Treasury Sub-Committee calls for much greater transparency from the Treasury in accounting for the liabilities taken on by the nationalisation and part-nationalisation of financial institutions. The report recommends that these disclosures appear in the annual Treasury resource accounts. Furthermore they should be at least as comprehensive as those made by major corporations and go further than meeting the minimum acceptable accounting standards. In particular, the Report notes that the Treasury's 2007-08 Annual Report and Accounts cover the Government's financial relationship with Northern Rock but do not comment on its performance under temporary public ownership. Given the level of interest in the fully nationalised institutions of Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, and the Treasury's role in their governance, the report recommends that key performance information for these institutions be published in the resource accounts as well. The wholesale nationalisation of Northern Rock, and Bradford & Bingley has created governance responsibilities for the Treasury while these entities remain under public ownership. The Government's announcements of October 2008 created further responsibilities regarding the oversight of part-nationalised banks, and created a new body, UK Financial Investments (UKFI). The report calls for UKFI to report annually to Parliament and to be accountable to the Treasury Committee. The Committee wants the Government to identify and publish performance indicators for UKFI, and to report against these measures on a six-monthly basis. All these developments are additional challenges for the Treasury and require it to act in areas its current staff base may not be fully equipped for or familiar with. The Government must ensure the Treasury is sufficiently resourced to manage the extended responsibilities arising from the economic downturn, especially those regarding financial stability.

The Stationery Office Annual Catalogue

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 564 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (243 download)

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Book Synopsis The Stationery Office Annual Catalogue by : Stationery Office (Great Britain)

Download or read book The Stationery Office Annual Catalogue written by Stationery Office (Great Britain) and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 564 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Stationery Office Annual Catalogue 2008

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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.

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

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Author :
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.