Author: Great Britain. National Audit OfficePublisher:
ISBN: 9781786041821
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 76
Book Description
National Audit Office. Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
Author: Great Britain. National Audit OfficePublisher:
ISBN: 9781786041821
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 76
Book Description
HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE INTERFACE.
Author: NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE.Publisher:
ISBN: 9781786042057
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
National Audit Office. Department for Communities and Local Government
Author: Great Britain. National Audit OfficePublisher:
ISBN: 9781786041166
Category : Business enterprises
Languages : en
Pages : 55
Book Description
Housing market renewal
Author: Great Britain: National Audit OfficePublisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102951295
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 48
Book Description
This NAO report examines the Government programme of Housing Market Renewal, established to tackle problems of acute low housing demand in the North of England and the Midlands. Neighbourhood decline and deprivation has resulted where there are high concentrations of properties that are difficult to let or sell, where there is a loss of population and an inability to attract new households. Nine new sub-regional partnerships or "pathfinders" were set up, with considerable freedom in determining their approach to low housing demand. The NAO has set out a number of recommendations, including: the Department of Communities and Local Government should clarify arrangements for the delivery of the Housing Market Renewal programme alongside local authority housing market assessments; the Department should also clarify the role of Government Offices in helping to support regional delivery as well as the terms of reference for both Government Offices and the Department in matters of leadership, oversight and monitoring of the programme; the Department should be clearer about its expectations for the renewal programme's contribution to delivering non-housing regeneration, such as better schools, transport and neighbourhood management; that any Housing Market Renewal demolition schemes are based on up-to-date market analysis; the Department should also clarify how it is expected to achieve alignment with regional strategies for higher housing growth; the Department should also develop the performance framework, including value for money indicators and that there should be a comparison of outcomes between low demand areas subject to Housing Market Renewal and those low demand areas that are not.
The New Homes Bonus
Author: Great Britain: National Audit OfficePublisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102981384
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 46
Book Description
The Department for Communities and Local Government is not adequately monitoring the £1.3 billion New Homes Bonus paid to local authorities up to 2013-14. The scheme aims to deliver 140,000 new homes over the next ten years. The Department has not decided upon a review's scope or methodology. The National Audit Office calls for the essential review to be carried out urgently. This report has found some evidence that the New Homes Bonus has given authorities resources to allow them to continue activities such as identifying empty homes and bringing them back into use. But the scheme is mainly funded by redistributing central government's core funding for local authorities. Some local authorities, particularly in areas where developers are less likely to want to build new homes, face losing large amounts of their funding from central government. These authorities face growing financial risks, including to future service delivery. Also the new homes estimate was produced using very limited evidence and contained an arithmetical error which significantly increased estimated construction rates. It is difficult for local authorities to persuade communities of the benefits of new housing. New housing is often unpopular with residents who may be concerned about pressure on local services, loss of amenities, traffic congestion and disruption during building. Some councillors, local authority officers and stakeholders with whom the NAO spoke suggested these views were often strongly held and difficult to change.
National Audit Office - Department for Communities and Local Government - Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Funding and Structures for Local Economic Growth - HC 542
Author: Great Britain: National Audit OfficePublisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102987225
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 48
Book Description
In 2010, the Government set out a new approach for local economic growth, in the White Paper Local growth: realising every place's potential. This involved the closure of the Regional Development Agencies and their replacement with new local growth organizations and funds, such as Local Enterprise Partnerships and the Regional Growth Fund. Three years on from this initial announcement, the new Local Enterprise Partnerships and Enterprise Zones are taking shape. However, Local Enterprise Partnerships are making progress at different rates. The Growing Places Fund, Enterprise Zones and the Regional Growth Fund have also been slow to create jobs and face a significant challenge to produce the number of jobs expected. The estimate of jobs to be created by Enterprise Zones by 2015 has dropped from 54,000 to between 6,000 and 18,000. There is also no plan to measure outcomes or evaluate performance comparably across the range of different local growth programmes. Departments cannot therefore show value for money across the programme of local growth initiatives or be sure about where to direct their resources. The new local programmes were not established in time to avoid a significant dip in local growth funds and jobs created. Direct central government spending on local economic growth through the initiatives fell from £1,461 million in 2010-11 to £273 million in 2012-13, but will rise to £1,714 million in 2014-15. Central government needs to plan such reorganizations more effectively, to ensure that sufficient capacity is in place both centrally and locally to oversee initiatives and that accountability is clear
The Decent Homes Programme
Author: Great Britain: National Audit OfficePublisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102963410
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 44
Book Description
It is estimated that over a million social homes have been improved by the Department for Communities and Local Government's Decent Homes Programme, which aims to improve the condition of homes for social housing tenants. The Department has also provided funding to improve conditions for vulnerable households in private sector accommodation. The Programme has made progress and that, as of April 2009, 86 per cent of homes in the social sector were classed as decent. The Programme has also brought wider benefits such as improved housing management, tenant involvement and employment opportunities. The original target was that all social sector homes would be decent by 2010, but by November 2009 the Department was estimating that approximately 92 per cent of social housing would meet the standard by 2010, leaving 305,000 properties 'non-decent'. 100 per cent decency would not be achieved until 2018-19. The National Audit Office has concluded that there are weaknesses in the information collected by the Department, warning that information gaps create a risk to value for money. Weaknesses in the Department's information are illustrated by uncertainties over the total cost of the Programme to itself or to the sector and the number of properties improved.
PFI in housing
Author: Great Britain: National Audit OfficePublisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102965285
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 44
Book Description
This report, from the National Audit Office (HCP 71, session 2010-11, ISBN 9780102965285), looks at PFI in Housing. The use of PFI by local authorities to improve housing, usually in areas with a high need for housing and where the stock condition is particularly poor, has had a measure of success, but risks to value for money of the programme have not been managed. In the context of this programme, PFI has been a flexible and useful funding route for local authorities to improve existing housing and build new stock. However, the majority of projects required significant increases in central funding prior to contract signature and all have suffered delays. Twenty one of the 25 projects which have been signed to date have experienced cost increases, with 12 of these over 100 per cent. All signed projects, for which the NAO was able to obtain data, were delayed, on average by 2 years and 6 months. For early projects this was partly because PFI was new to the housing sector and the Department for Communities and Local Government had to develop its understanding of stock condition issues. Also, the Department's management for early projects was also weak and under-resourced. While the capital cost of PFI housing projects is similar to other developments, the Department's evaluation to date has not taken account of the full costs. Procurement also tends to take more time, which can increase procurement and tender costs for local authorities and bidders.
National Audit Office (NAO) - Department for Communities and Local Government: Council Tax Support - HC 882
Author: Great Britain: National Audit OfficePublisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102987256
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 44
Book Description
The Department for Communities and Local Government worked together effectively with local authorities to ensure Council Tax support was introduced on schedule. Not all local authorities' support schemes, however, will achieve the expected objectives outlined by the Department before the policy was implemented. The Department reduced the funding for Council Tax support by 10 per cent, equating to a saving for central government of £414 million in 2013-14. Its 'localization' of Council Tax support required local authorities to design their own local support schemes. Most local authorities have reduced support for claimants to meet some of their funding reduction. Seventy-one per cent of local authorities have introduced schemes that require working age claimants to pay at least some council tax regardless of income. Most local authorities also used new powers to charge more Council Tax on some properties, such as second and short-term empty homes, to help offset the funding reduction for Council Tax support. The National Audit Office found that all of a sample of 207 local authorities had taken advantage of these additional powers, raising an estimated additional income of £178 million. The Department expects local authorities to implement schemes which protect vulnerable people and improve work incentives. The task for local authorities to meet these different objectives whilst managing their funding reduction is complex, and may require trade-offs. The Department takes the view that scheme designs are local decisions and it does not plan to intervene in local authorities' scheme choices
Auditing Practices in Local Governments
Author: Laurence FerryPublisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1801170851
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
Through a comparative analysis of the development of auditing practices in governments across the globe, Auditing Practices in Local Governments: An International Comparison provides a contemporary overview of public sector auditing practices at both local and state level.