Jonny Mood - National Audit Office

A step change in financial management in government is needed to drive better value public services

The head of @nao.org.uk gave his annual speech in Parliament yesterday, drawing on what we seen across our audits of government spending

Link to speech below

www.nao.org.uk/insights/ste...

Annual reports & accounts are critical publications supporting transparency and accountability.

They detail your organisation's performance, including successes & challenges.

So what's the best way to present this?

Our guide gives you the low down ⬇️
www.nao.org.uk/insights/goo...

Read our learnings and insights from more than 400 financial audits.

Many government departments, other agencies and organisations experience the same challenges, such as data & reporting quality, IT controls, and asset management

Report: nao.org.uk/insights/aud...

64% of regulators expect innovation to be the greatest determinant of economic growth Regulators surveyed by the National Audit Office

HM Treasury's regulation Action Plan aims to drive economic growth and save £5.6 billion a year by 2030 by cutting administrative burdens. Our new report examines the progress made in implementing the Action Plan so far.

Read the full report here: nao.org.uk/reports/regu...

Update on the New Hospital Programme - NAO report The NAO has published an update on the New Hospital Programme following government's decision to reset the programme.

The New Hospital Programme now has a more realistic timetable, with final hospitals due in 2045–46.

But for RAAC-affected hospitals, a tight construction schedule with little contingency for delays means there are significant delivery risks.

Our report: nao.org.uk/reports/upda...

Anyone who is learning to drive - or have friends and family doing so - will recognise the frustration of not being able to get a driving test where they want and within a reasonable time

Our @nao.org.uk report looks at the causes of backlogs and DVSA's actions in response
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An analysis of the asylum system - NAO report We’ve mapped the asylum system to show where delays occur, and set out four requirements for an effective system.

Do you understand the asylum system? Or how different parts of government need to work together?

For the first time @nao.org.uk have mapped out the asylum system to show where constraints lie and help gov move from short-term fixes to a sustainable, whole-system approach
nao.org.uk/reports/an-a...

£3 billion Cost of the NS&I digital transformation programme, up from £1.7 billion in 2020 Estimated total costs including running costs

National Savings and Investments raises funds for government by borrowing from savers who invest in products such as Premium Bonds.

While digitally transforming its business, NS&I has faced cost increases, delays & procurement issues.

Our report: www.nao.org.uk/reports/nati...

Our latest @nao.org.uk overview of the Department for Transport is out

This draws on our work to provide a short and neat summary of key issues - if you are interested in transport you'll find something of interest in it

www.nao.org.uk/overviews/de...

What is on Parliament's mind when in comes to how public money is being spent? How can it be spent better? What challenges need greater focus?

A good guide is the PACs annual report covering their 5 key issues and what government needs to do in response
committees.parliament.uk/publications...

Our latest @nao.org.uk report sets out the issues in the design and set-up of the government’s energy efficiency scheme for homes. Failures in consumer protection and quality assurance led to widespread issues with the quality of installations and suspected fraud

Improving government's productivity through better cost information - NAO report Government departments often lack insight into what drives cost in individual activities that make up an overall end-to-end service.

Key reading for anyone working in government finance 👇
www.nao.org.uk/reports/impr...

@nao.org.uk on 'improving government's productivity through better cost information'. We point to techniques and approaches that can be used to better understanding cost drivers and where to target cost savings

England’s buses: more ambition needed to undo a decade of decline and get bums back on seats, Transport Committee tells Govt - Committees - UK Parliament A new Transport Committee report calls on the Government to reform the way local bus services are funded and to adopt a national ambition for a minimum level of public transport connectivity. Thi...

Very good report from Transport Select Committee on buses out today - lots of read across to recent @nao.org.uk work on local bus services in the findings on funding, support and guidance to the sector, and clearly communicating long-term strategic ambitions for buses
nao.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Fascinating Public Accounts Committee session today on local bus services in England, drawing on our recent @nao.org.uk report

Discussion covered important areas such as improving performance for passengers, accessibility, funding, and skills in the sector

Video 👇
parliamentlive.tv/event/index/...

A new @nao.org.uk report shows local bus services have not recovered to pre-Covid levels. Read our full response tinyurl.com/yryby6uf

Good work by @jonnymood.bsky.social & the NAO

A clear strategy, long term & simplified revenue funding, capital investment to get buses out of traffic and make them a better option than driving + support for local authorities all crucial in providing more people access to decent bus services.

Most failures aren’t failures. Unlearned lessons are. We tend to think the National Audit Office will criticise projects that don’t succeed as a waste of public money.

As director of the National Audit Office, @jonnymood.bsky.social is able to bust so many myths about what value for money means. Is a failure automatically poor value? NO!

I write about this on Freewheeling Bitesize. If you're inspired, listen!

“It's fine when you're swinging big to have a few misses in a controlled environment”.

Jonny Mood appeared on the Freewheeling podcast to discuss why the public sector shouldn't be afraid to fail - as long as it's willing to learn from failures.

Listen here ⤵️

Jonny Mood on Value for Money — Freewheeling “It's fine when you're swinging big to have a few misses in a controlled environment” - 𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 making it very clear that it’s fine for public sector organisa...

I had great time talking to the ever excellent @freewheeling.info podcast about @nao.org.uk work on innovation, transport and our value for money work more generally

You can take a listen to what we talked about in the link below

www.freewheeling.info/the-freewhee...

UK government launches new wave of private financing for public services Ministers insist infrastructure projects will avoid pitfalls of earlier PFI deals

Private finance for public service is back. How do we learn the lessons of past issues here? We produced an @nao.org.uk report drawing together lessons from 140 NAO reports
on.ft.com/446gixl

Great report out today from @nao.org.uk- absolutely jam packed with insights from operational delivery across government, with some key lessons for departments and ALBs

as well as the report, there is a nice feature in @civilserviceworld.bsky.social as well
www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/...

Take a whole system approach Deal with complexity and uncertainty by understanding how different parts of the system connect and achieve outcomes for service users .

Understand and deal with demand Design and run services in a way that provides people with what they want, when they want it, and get it right the first time.

Use information to improve Work to understand how services are performing, and use that information to decide what to change, why, and how.

Have a systemic approach to innovation and improvement Know where problems happen and if there are opportunities to improve.

We've drawn on a range of case studies from the DVLA, HMRC, Home Office and more, to understand how departments are innovating, adapting, and improving the way public services are delivered.

Read our latest report on smarter operational delivery here: www.nao.org.uk/insights/sma...

Productivity has been too low for too long

Improving it in the public sector will require applying new technologies, system reform, investing in upskilling people and operational delivery, and better maintaining assets

Lots in the @nao.org.uk back catalogue covering this and more to come in future

£5.2 billion in tax collected in 2023-24 as a result of HMRC's compliance work with wealthy individuals

Wealthy individuals have complex tax affairs, which makes it more difficult for HMRC to identify the tax they owe.

HMRC has secured more of the tax due from wealthy people, however further gains are possible.

Read our report for more: www.nao.org.uk/reports/coll...

@ukri.org plays a critical role, supporting cutting-edge work that helps support progress in many policy areas

But what does its approach to teach us about how to promote innovation across government?

My @nao.org.uk colleague discusses key insights from our work in @wonkhe.bsky.social 👇

UK Research and Innovation: providing support through grants - NAO report UKRI should strengthen its approach to taking bolder decisions and address data challenges to maximise value for money for the taxpayer.

Government sees research and innovation as vital to achieving its long-term policy goals of growing the economy and achieving net zero

@nao.org.uk has looked at how @ukri.org - which spends £9bn a year - can use well-managed risk taking to maximise vfm

Report 👉 www.nao.org.uk/reports/uk-r...

Our latest @nao.org.uk report looks at the water sector

Regulators have failed to deliver a trusted, resilient water sector

Gov needs to act urgently to address industry performance and resilience to ensure the sector can meet targets and achieve vfm over the long term for bill payers

It was a real pleasure to talk about @nao.org.uk work on active travel at WEET forum last week

And to hear about the progress made by @ategov.bsky.social over last 2 years.

I highlighted some of our findings on strategy, funding, realising the benefits

Few words on LinkedIn: tinyurl.com/rtsxj7nx

Lessons learned: Private finance for infrastructure - NAO report The aim of this National Audit Office report is to support public bodies as they consider how to finance new public infrastructure.

Interesting report out today from @nao.org.uk, looking over 140 previous publications for lessons learned on using private finance for infrastructure (hot topic in a world of constrained public finances).

Lots chimes with our @futuregovforum.bsky.social work.

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www.nao.org.uk/reports/less...

What should government decision-makers consider as they develop plans for new infrastructure investment?

Our latest @nao.org.uk draws out key considerations for decision makers - important reading for anyone involved in delivering or financing infrastructure projects

www.nao.org.uk/reports/less...