Treasury minutes on the nineteenth to the twenty first and the twenty third to the twenty seventh reports from the Committee of Public Accounts session 2010-11

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780101806923
Total Pages : 56 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (69 download)

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Book Synopsis Treasury minutes on the nineteenth to the twenty first and the twenty third to the twenty seventh reports from the Committee of Public Accounts session 2010-11 by : Great Britain. Treasury

Download or read book Treasury minutes on the nineteenth to the twenty first and the twenty third to the twenty seventh reports from the Committee of Public Accounts session 2010-11 written by Great Britain. Treasury and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-05-16 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dated May 2011. The reports published as HC 651 (ISBN 9780215556232); HC 688 (ISBN 9780215556363); HC 721 (ISBN 9780215556424); HC 687 (ISBN 9780215556530); HC 667 (ISBN 9780215556646); HC 668 (ISBN 9780215556745); HC 741 (ISBN 9780215556851); HC 765 (ISBN 9780215556882)

HM Revenue & Customs accounts 2010-11

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215040077
Total Pages : 170 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (4 download)

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Book Synopsis HM Revenue & Customs accounts 2010-11 by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book HM Revenue & Customs accounts 2010-11 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-12-20 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Commons Public Accounts Committee publishes its 61st Report of the Session which, on the basis of evidence from the Cabinet Office and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), examined tax disputes. At 31 March 2011 HM Revenue & Customs was seeking to resolve tax issues valued at over £25 billion with large companies, some of which included disputes over outstanding tax. In this report, the Committee expresses concern about how the Department handled some cases involving large settlements and that there needs to be proper separation between the negotiation of tax settlements and the authorization of such settlements. The Committee also states that HMRC made matters worse by trying to avoid scrutiny of these settlements, keeping confidential the details of specific settlements with large companies. This effects Parliament's ability to establish value for money, compounded further by imprecise, inconsistent and potentially misleading answers given by senior departmental officials, including the Permanent Secretary for Tax in particular over his evidence on his relationship with Goldman Sachs, in facilitating a settlement with the company over their tax dispute. HMRC governance processes in these matters were inconsistent and it has now appointed two new Commissioners with tax expertise, and plans to introduce a new assessor role to permit independent review of large settlements before they are finalised. The Committee further states that it saw little evidence of personal accountability within the Department, and that a perception has developed that large companies are treated more favourably, receiving preferential treatment compared to small businesses and individuals.

The work of committees in 2008-09

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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

Education under Siege

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Publisher : Policy Press
ISBN 13 : 1447311345
Total Pages : 314 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (473 download)

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Book Synopsis Education under Siege by : Mortimore, Peter

Download or read book Education under Siege written by Mortimore, Peter and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2013-09-23 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a time when education is considered crucial to a country’s economic success, recent UK governments have insisted their reforms are the only way to make England’s system world class. Yet pupils are tested rather than educated, teachers bullied rather than trusted and parents cast as winners or losers in a gamble for school places. Education under siege considers the English education system as it is and as it might be. In a highly accessible style, Peter Mortimore, an author with wide experience of the education sector, both in the UK and abroad, identifies the current system’s strengths and weaknesses. He concludes that England has some of the best teachers in the world but one of the most muddled systems. Challenging the government’s view that there is no alternative, he proposes radical changes to help all schools become good schools. They include a system of schools receiving a fair balance of pupils who learn easily and those who do not, ensuring a more even spread of effective teachers, as well as banning league tables, outlawing selection, opening up faith schools and integrating private schools into the state system. In the final chapter, he asks readers who share his concerns to demand that the politicians alter course. The book will appeal to parents, education students and teachers, as well as everyone interested in the future education of our children.

Equity investment in privately financed projects

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215044129
Total Pages : 52 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (441 download)

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Book Synopsis Equity investment in privately financed projects by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Equity investment in privately financed projects written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-05-02 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines the risks and rewards for private equity investors in government private finance projects. The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) model has been used by governments in some 700 projects over the last 20 years but defects, including failures to demonstrate the value for money case satisfactorily, the use of long inflexible contracts and the costly contracting process, and inefficient pricing of equity have made continuing with the current model unsustainable. The Treasury is currently reviewing the PFI model. It needs to improve flexibility in the way that private finance is used, establishing quicker and more efficient procurement procedures and achieving a better balance between investors' risks and their rewards. Private finance should only be used where it secures real value for money for the taxpayer, not because of definitional statistical incentives to get projects off the balance sheet (only some 20% of long term PFI liabilities are recorded as debt in the national accounts). Business cases must be an unbiased and transparent assessment of the best form of procurement for the particular project being undertaken, taking account of expected tax receipts from alternative options and not adjusting assumptions to bias the outcome of the assessment. The Treasury needs to collect data on investors' experiences and use this information to assess and challenge investors' returns. There needs to be greater transparency over the pricing of contracts, and inefficiencies which add to the cost of private deals, such as long procurement times, need to be addressed.

HM Treasury

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215050670
Total Pages : 36 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (56 download)

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Book Synopsis HM Treasury by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book HM Treasury written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-11-16 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The run on deposits at Northern Rock in September 2007 was one of the key moments in a financial crisis. After nationalising Northern Rock in February 2008, the Treasury eventually decided to split out a new retail bank, ("Northern Rock plc"), for sale, and to run-down the majority of the mortgage assets in a separate public sector vehicle, Northern Rock (Asset Management) plc ("NRAM"). Northern Rock plc was sold to Virgin Money in 2011 for proceeds currently estimated at £931 million, an expected loss of £469 million. The Treasury hopes to recover all the public funds provided to Northern Rock but this is far from certain as it relies on a profitable wind-down of NRAM. Moreover there will still be an economic loss, currently estimated at £2 billion. The Treasury took too long to nationalise the bank and failed to make an effective challenge to the bank's business plan. The Treasury has started to address this lack of capacity: it has established UK Financial Investments ("UKFI") with a small team of 12 people to manage the taxpayer shares in banks. The £66 billion cash spent purchasing shares in RBS and Lloyds may never be recovered. In hindsight, the Treasury's decision to create and sell a new bank turned out to be no worse than any available alternative, because no matter which part of the bank was sold, or when, a larger amount of assets would need to be retained in public ownership.

Accountability for public money - progress report

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215043740
Total Pages : 82 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (437 download)

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Book Synopsis Accountability for public money - progress report by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Accountability for public money - progress report written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-04-17 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is a follow-up to the Committee's report on Accountability for Public Money (HC 740, session 2010-11 (ISBN 9780215559029)) an issue at the core of the relationship between Parliament and government. Accounting Officers remain accountable to Parliament for funds voted to their departments but the policy intention is that local bodies will have significant discretion over the services they deliver. In the Government's response, 'Accountability: Adapting to Decentralisation', Sir Bob Kerslake drew a distinction between those services that government delivers directly and those that it may fund but are delivered in more decentralised arrangements. He proposed that Accounting Officers set out, in Accountability System Statements, the arrangements they have in place to provide assurance about the probity and value for money of funds spent through devolved systems. All departments are expected to produce Statements by summer 2012. Departments have made a genuine effort to develop arrangements which reconcile accountability and localism but the Statements so far are unwieldy and considerably more needs to be done to improve their clarity, consistency and completeness. There is concern that accountability frameworks must drive value for money and, critically, are sufficiently robust to address the operational or financial failure of service providers. Departments are placing increasing reliance on market mechanisms such as user choice to drive up performance and value for money, but there are limits to what these mechanisms can achieve. The Treasury needs to take ownership of the system and ensure that the Comptroller and Auditor General has the necessary powers and rights of access to examine the value for money of funds spent through devolved systems

The UK Regional-National Economic Problem

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 131723717X
Total Pages : 376 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (172 download)

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Book Synopsis The UK Regional-National Economic Problem by : Philip McCann

Download or read book The UK Regional-National Economic Problem written by Philip McCann and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-10 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, the United Kingdom has become a more and more divided society with inequality between the regions as marked as it has ever been. In a landmark analysis of the current state of Britain’s regional development, Philip McCann utilises current statistics, examines historical trends and makes pertinent international comparisons to assess the state of the nation. The UK Regional–National Economic Problem brings attention to the highly centralised, top down governance structure that the UK deploys, and demonstrates that it is less than ideally placed to rectify these inequalities. The ‘North-South’ divide in the UK has never been greater and the rising inequalities are evident in almost all aspects of the economy including productivity, incomes, employment status and wealth. Whilst the traditional economic dominance of London and its hinterland has continued along with relative resilience in the South West of England and Scotland, in contrast the Midlands, the North of England, Northern Ireland and Wales lag behind by most measures of prosperity. This inequality is greatly limiting national economic performance and the fact that Britain has a below average standard of living by European and OECD terms has been ignored. The UK’s economic and governance inequality is unlikely to be fundamentally rebalanced by the current governance and connectivity trends, although this definitive study suggests that some areas of improvement are possible if they are well implemented. This pivotal analysis is essential reading for postgraduate students in economics and urban studies as well as researchers and policy makers in local and central government.

The Stationery Office Annual Catalogue

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 542 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (334 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 2012 with total page 542 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Accountability for public money

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215559029
Total Pages : 52 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (59 download)

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Book Synopsis Accountability for public money by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Accountability for public money written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-04-05 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Public Accounts Committee report addresses an issue at the core of the relationship between Parliament and government - accountability for public spending. The Committee is interested in the implications for accountability of two recent developments: the governance reforms which include Ministers chairing departmental boards and greater non-executive involvement in those boards; and the reform and localism proposals which envisage a significant devolution of responsibility for service delivery to a wide range of new bodies, in some cases independent of both central and local government. The reform and localism proposals raised fundamental points about the current model of accountability which the report explores. In practice government has long chosen to discharge accountability through the senior civil servant in each department, the Accounting Officer. Government vests in each Accounting Officer a direct and personal accountability to Parliament for his or her department's stewardship of public funds. While significant sums are spent locally, local taxes account for just 5% of revenue raised and so the overwhelming majority of public spending in the UK is routed through departments and is the responsibility of the departmental Accounting Officer. Parliament vests responsibility in the Public Accounts Committee to hold Accounting Officers accountable on its behalf. Sir Bob Kerslake has been appointed to review how the policy objectives of the reform and localism agenda might be reconciled with the current accountability model based on the Accounting Officer. The Committee sets out its fundamental elements for an effective accountability model.

HM Revenue & Customs

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215556882
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (568 download)

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Book Synopsis HM Revenue & Customs by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book HM Revenue & Customs written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-03-17 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The two directorates in HMRC responsible for civil investigation work brought in £8.5 billion of tax revenue in 2009-10, nearly 50 per cent more than the total three years before. At the same time they reduced spending by 10 per cent. This was good progress but the Department now has a much more stretching target. Government spending plans require HMRC to bring in an extra £18 billion of tax revenue over the next four years while reducing its costs. A crucial point is that the Department has lacked detailed information on how much different types of enforcement activity cost and what the returns are. It will need this information to meet the challenge of the new target. HMRC must improve its performance in key areas. Its targets for its investigation directorates have not been demanding enough, sometimes being set below the yield achieved in the previous year. Only a quarter of civil investigations of fraud cases were completed within the 18-month target. The level of penalties being imposed in cases of fraud has been too low. And the systems for tracking whether tax debts are being collected are poor.

The major projects report 2010

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215556530
Total Pages : 48 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (565 download)

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Book Synopsis The major projects report 2010 by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book The major projects report 2010 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-02-22 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines the Ministry of Defence's progress in meeting cost, time and performance targets for its 15 top-spending military equipment projects. The Committee has reported before that the defence equipment programme is unaffordable with commitments exceeding forecast budgets over a ten year period by £36 billion. The MoD's short term decisions to keep in year expenditure within voted limits and the need to understand the full cost implications of these decisions have damaging consequences. In this year alone the cost of the major projects rose by £3.3 billion and nearly £5 billion was lost by late cancellations. The scale of problems created by this financial imbalance masks the improved performance of the majority of projects against cost and budget. The Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) offered the Department an opportunity to bring its plans into balance with the expenditure limits set in the Comprehensive Spending Review. Projects such as the Nimrod MRA4 and Sentinel aircraft have been cancelled, accepting greater operational risks in some areas and writing off nearly £5 billion of taxpayer's money. But implementing the SDSR will require further decisions and the renegotiation or cancellation of a significant number of existing contracts to make the programme affordable. The Department has a poor track record in taking such decisions on the well informed basis necessary to optimise value for money. Other projects examined in detail include the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers and the Typhoon aircraft.

The BBC's management of digital media initiative

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215559081
Total Pages : 48 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (59 download)

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

Download or read book The BBC's management of digital media initiative written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-04-07 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines the management of the contract with Siemens and the BBC's in-house development of the Digital Media Initiative Programme. The Programme is designed to transform the way in which BBC staff create, use and share video and audio material. It involves the development of new technology to allow staff to manage content efficiently on their desktops, in order to give greater accessibility of digital content for audiences on TV, online and radio. The BBC has made good progress in delivering the programme in-house since it terminated its contract with Siemens. It is now on course to deliver the complete technology by summer 2011. With hindsight, the BBC should not have let the contract for its Digital Media Initiative to Siemens without testing the contractor against other suppliers, especially as there was a high degree of innovation involved. The Programme is no longer expected to deliver the overall net financial benefit of £17.9 million originally anticipated. The BBC approved the Programme on the basis that it would cost £81.7 million and deliver benefits of £99.6 million, but now forecasts costs of £133.6 million and benefits of £95.4 million - a net cost of £38.2 million. The Committee welcomes the Trust's assurance that it would now take a more challenging approach when considering procurements but are concerned with the ease with which the BBC found over £50 million in savings to make up for the losses it suffered through late delivery of the project and its own increased delivery costs. This suggests the need for a more vigilant approach to value for money.

Congressional Record

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 1324 pages
Book Rating : 4.A/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Congressional Record by : United States. Congress

Download or read book Congressional Record written by United States. Congress and published by . This book was released on 1968 with total page 1324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Oversight of user choice and provider competition in care markets

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215038913
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (389 download)

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Book Synopsis Oversight of user choice and provider competition in care markets by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Oversight of user choice and provider competition in care markets written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-12-06 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Currently, 340,000 people, or 30 % of eligible care users, have a personal budget, which enables the individual to choose their care provider. The Government wants all eligible users to be offered a personal budget by April 2013. Personal budgets currently cost the taxpayer £1.5 billion each year. The total annual expenditure on care is around £23 billion. Effective oversight of the care market is essential to protect the interests of both social care users and of taxpayers. There is growing consolidation in the social care market at a regional level. Yet the Department did not have a view on what level of market share represents a risk of provider dominance, or arrangements to protect users should a large-scale provider fail. This is worrying given the recent experience of Southern Cross and the high levels of debt that some providers are carrying. There are risks to the future functioning of the social care market from local authority budget reductions. The report notes some difficult areas with personal budgets: provision of advice, ease of changing support, redress. The Department has to rely on local authorities to implement its policy of universal provision of personal budgets but it cannot compel local authorities to act. The Department will shortly issue a White Paper on reforming social care delivery. The changes the Department makes must address concerns about giving users a real choice, overseeing the market to ensure competition and stability, and putting in place arrangements and contingencies to deal with major provider failure.

The use of information to manage the defence logistics supply chain

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215561183
Total Pages : 48 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (611 download)

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Book Synopsis The use of information to manage the defence logistics supply chain by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book The use of information to manage the defence logistics supply chain written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-08-19 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report assesses the Ministry of Defence's performance in managing the supply chain to front line troops. The MoD rightly puts a strong emphasis on ensuring troops get the supplies they need. Equally, providing an efficient supply chain would release resources for the front line. The Committee believes there should be greater emphasis on securing value for money and that there is room for it to find efficiencies in the supply chain without jeopardising operational effectiveness. Previous reports have identified persistent problems with late deliveries, unnecessary costs and missed targets. At present, the MoD does not have the information to identify where savings could be made. It does not know the full costs of its current activities or the cost of alternative supply options. The failure to collect basic data about where supplies are stored has directly contributed to the MoD accounts being qualified for three consecutive years. The MoD is now seeking to resolve these information problems through a major initiative known as the Future Logistics Information Services project, expected to be implemented by 2014. Until then, the Department will continue to store data in systems that are at critical risk of failure. It is vital that the MOD sustains its programme in order to secure value for money. Measures which could improve the efficiency of supply operations include putting more pressure on suppliers to deliver on time, keeping stocks at lower levels to reduce the risk of them deteriorating, and benchmarking performance against relevant comparators such as other armed forces.

Delivering the cancer reform strategy

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215556646
Total Pages : 48 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (566 download)

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Book Synopsis Delivering the cancer reform strategy by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Download or read book Delivering the cancer reform strategy written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-03 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines the Department of Health's and the NHS's performance in delivering cancer services; improving information on activity, cost and outcomes of cancer services; and how the Department intends to deliver cost-effective cancer services in the new NHS. The NHS spent £6.3 billion on cancer services in 2008-09. Tackling Cancer has been a priority for the Department since its ten year NHS Cancer Plan was published in 2000. In 2007 the Department published its five year Cancer Reform Strategy (the Strategy) to deliver improved patient outcomes. The NHS has made significant progress in delivering important aspects of cancer services, with falling mortality rates and consistent achievement of the cancer waiting times targets. However, early diagnosis does not happen often enough. And the gap in survival rates between England and the best European countries has not been closed. There remain wide, unexplained variations in the performance of cancer services and in the types of treatment available across the country; and significant gaps in information about important aspects of cancer services, in particular information on chemotherapy, on follow-up treatment, and on the stage that a patient's cancer has reached at the time of diagnosis. The Department cannot yet measure the impact of the Strategy on key outcomes, such as survival rates, and does not know if cancer services are being commissioned cost-effectively, due to poor data on costs and because outcomes data are not sufficiently timely. The Department must ensure the collection of high quality, comprehensive and timely data.