The Impact of the Office of Government Commerce's Initiatives on the Delivery of Major IT-enabled Projects PDF Download

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215025098
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
Central civil government annually spends £2.3 billion on information technology, some 16% of its total procurement budget. This report examines the progress the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has made in improving departments' capacity to deliver successful IT projects and programmes. In particular it looks at the application of the Gateway Review Process, where there is an independent review of projects at critical points; the use of OGC initiatives by departments; and engagement with suppliers.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215025197
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
The number of estates liable to inheritance tax has grown in recent years, reflecting the rising value of assets in property, particularly of houses. Following on from a National Audit Office report (HCP 17, session 2004-05; ISBN 0102931550), the Committee's report focuses on the following issues: strengthening compliance checks and enforcing penalties for non-compliance; improving case processing and making the system easier to use, including simplifying forms; and the operation of the tax exemption scheme for heritage assets. A number of conclusions and recommendations are made, including the need to: improve data collection and analysis to examine the tax gap on undeclared or under-valued assets; consider extending regulations on disclosure obligations to inheritance tax avoidance schemes; and to further reduce the number of long-outstanding cases by setting targets and making full use of powers to secure information required. The report also recommends that the Revenue should consider developing a co-ordinated bereavement website, in co-operation with other departments, containing advice and information on dealing with the death of a relative, including filing inheritance tax and probate returns.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215017536
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description
Forms are one of the most frequent ways a citizen interacts with government departments. If a form is badly designed it is likely lead to errors and increase processing costs, also the public is less inclined to believe that progress is being made to a more responsive and accessible service. Based on an NAO report (HC 1145 2002-03 ISBN 0102923604), the Committee took evidence from the Inland Revenue, DES, DWP and Passport Service on the three main issues of: designing user friendly forms; improved administrative efficiency; progress to providing online services. The \are 12 main recommendations.

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description

Author: Stationery Office (Great Britain)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 632

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Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215025104
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description
In order to deploy troops in key military operations at short notice, the Ministry of Defence employs a system known as the Urgent Operational Requirements. The purpose of this method is to provide speedy and flexible procurement of capabilities, and it has been a major feature of UK recent military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Following on from an NAO report (HCP 1161, session 2003-04, ISBN 0102930589) published in November 2004, the Committee's report focuses on three main issues: the importance of identifying and costing likely Urgent Operational Requirements; improvements to the way the MoD captures data on the process and outcomes, and the scope to apply lessons from Urgent Operational Requirements to the regular procurement programme.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215024985
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
In 2002, 85 per cent of defendants attended hearings in England and Wales at the dates and times set for them, but those who do not turn up cause distress and inconvenience to victims and witnesses, and waste the time and resources of the courts and other agencies. Criminal justice agencies are not dealing with this situation effectively. For example, only 45 per cent of the 118,000 bail warrants issued in 2002, were executed by the police within three months. The Committee recommends that areas with a poor record for enforcing defendants' attendance should be "named and shamed" by the National Criminal Justice Board. The Board should determine the responsibilities of the different criminal justice agencies at each stage of the criminal justice process. The increased use of stipendiary magistrates should be re-considered by the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215025074
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
The Home Office aims to reduce crime by supporting Police Basic Command Disorder Units, as well as 354 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in England and 22 Community Safety Partnerships in Wales. On the basis of evidence from the Home Office, this report examines the effectiveness and administration of these schemes. It finds that the initiatives have contributed to reductions in crime but, because they have not been systematically evaluated, it is not clear how much of a difference they have made. It also concludes that the Partnerships have too great an administrative burden and that the number of Partnerships should be reduced and their funding stream should be simplified.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215024954
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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Book Description
This report from the Committee of Public Accounts looks at the PFI deal struck between HM Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue, in April 2001, when it transferred the ownership and management of most of their estates to Mapeley, a private sector consortium. The deal was to provide a reduction in costs, particularly in having the ability to vacate up to 60% of the estates, with residual lease costs being borne by Mapeley. The contract was won by Mapeley because it offered a cheaper bid, based on speculative returns from the increases in commercial property values over a 20-year time period, also it believed it would win other business contracts to increase profits. Once the PFI contract was signed the freehold and long-leasehold properties were transferred to a company based in Bermuda. Because of the implications for capital gains tax and a later request from Mapeley for additional money, The Committee makes a number of recommendations on how the contract could have been better handled by the Department.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215027337
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
The BBC's White City 2 property development in West London comprises three new buildings, which were built next to an existing BBC building known as White City 1. White City 2 was financed by Land Securities Trillium under a 30 year partnership deal with the BBC, which also covered property services at 48 other BBC locations. The cost of construction for White City 2 was £210 million, along with £60.9 million for furniture and technical fit-out of the buildings. The development was completed on time, but the Committee of Public Accounts found several aspects of the project constituting risks to value for money. The cost of the development also exceeded the amount originally approved by the BBC Governors, along with significant variations to the scheme as the project progressed. The Committee set out a number of conclusions and recommendations: that the whole life costs of projects should be assessed and made available to the BBC Governors; the BBC should better integrate design and construction, so reducing the risk of design changes after contracts have begun; the license fee money should not be used to subsidise the BBC's commercial subsidiaries, and that rent charged for the sublet of buildings should meet the BBC's costs; that the BBC should not hold on to property which it does not need or which it cannot use cost-effectively; the BBC in future should follow public sector good practice, in particular in estimating whole life costs of projects, monitoring returns to the private sector, obtaining refinancing benefits, and integrating design and construction.