Office for National Statistics (ONS)'s Books

National Statistics Annual Report 2003/04

By: Great Britain. Office for National Statistics,Len Cook

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National Statistics Annual Report 2003/04

By: Great Britain. Office for National Statistics,Len Cook

This is the fourth National Statistics annual report which highlights the variety of work carried out by statisticians and other analysts in the Government Statistical Service (GSS) during the year 2003-04. It considers the progress made in implementing the statistical plans set out in the National Statistics Work Programme for 2003/04 to 2005/06, across three main areas of work: major developments in cross-cutting departmental or theme boundaries; work carried out under the aegis of the 12 National Statistics Theme Groups; and quality improvements carried out in the context of the National Statistics Quality Review Programme.

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172

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The Stationery Office

Published Date

ISBN 10

0101629427

ISBN 13

9780101629423

Control of immigration

statistics United Kingdom 2006

By: Great Britain: Home Office

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Control of immigration

statistics United Kingdom 2006

By: Great Britain: Home Office

The statistics presented, in brief, show that: International arrivals outside the Common Travel Area increased 3%; work permit holders admitted to UK increased 6%; Non-EEA student to the UK increased 9%; refusals of entry at port increased 6%; asylum applications decreased 8% including and excluding dependents with the highest number of applicants from Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iran, China and Somalia; decisions on asylum applications decreased 24%; 26% of applications resulted in grants of asylum, humanitarian protection/discretionary leave or in allowed appeals. There was a 2% increase in after entry decisions; grants of settlement fell by 25% and total number of persons removed from the UK increased 10%

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120

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The Stationery Office

Published Date

ISBN 10

0101719728

ISBN 13

9780101719728

Government on the internet

progress in delivering information and services online

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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Government on the internet

progress in delivering information and services online

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

This report examines the progress made by the Government, since 2002, in delivering services and information online. It examines three main areas: the quality of online provision; how it is organised and its cost; and future developments and strategy. The recommendations aim to help departments assess the costs and benefits of online provision, improve its quality, and encourage and assist citizens to use the services. Overall some £208 million is spent each year on website provision, with many positive signs of well used services but there is further potential for value for money gains. The planned transition to focus heavily on two supersites (Direct.gov.uk and businesslink.gov.uk) is an ambitious undertaking that would be the first of its kind in the world. It needs to be managed carefully.

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The Stationery Office

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ISBN 10

0102947244

ISBN 13

9780102947243

Memorandum to the Public Administration Select Committee

post-legislative scrutiny of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007

By: Great Britain: Cabinet Office

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Memorandum to the Public Administration Select Committee

post-legislative scrutiny of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007

By: Great Britain: Cabinet Office

The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 received Royal Assent on 26 July 2007 and introduced substantial reforms to the official statistical system across the whole of the UK and setting it in statute for the first time. The major stakeholders were consulted on the effectiveness of the Act and overall they felt the Act is meeting its original aims and objectives. There were some areas where it was felt further reforms could strengthen the Act's aims. These include: considering the case for widening the data sharing powers in the Act; managing and where possible minimising the costs incurred by the producers of official statistics in complying with the Code of practice; whether more needs to be done to distinguish official statistics from those that are not; whether more needs to be done to strengthen the internal separation between the statistics producer and regulator roles of the UK Statistics Authority; and how to further raise the profile of the Authority.

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ISBN 10

010182162X

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9780101821629

Monthly Digest of Statistics No. 706 October 2004

By: NA NA,Office of National Statistics Staff

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Monthly Digest of Statistics No. 706 October 2004

By: NA NA,Office of National Statistics Staff

This important reference work contains the latest business, economic and social data for the UK. Twenty chapters of tables, cover the following topics: National accounts, including Gross Domestic Product (GDP); Population and vital statistics; Labour market; Social services, Law enforcement; Agriculture, food, drinks and tobacco; Production, output and costs; Energy; Chemicals; Metals, engineering and vehicles; Textiles and other manufactures; Construction; Transport; Retailing; External trade in goods; UK balance of payments; Government finance; Prices and wages i.e. Retail Prices Index (RPI); Leisure; and Weather.

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150

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The Stationery Office

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ISBN 10

0116217162

ISBN 13

9780116217165

HM Government: Scotland Analysis: Science and Research

Science and Research

By: Great Britain: Scotland Office

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HM Government: Scotland Analysis: Science and Research

Science and Research

By: Great Britain: Scotland Office

This paper is the latest in the Scotland analysis series and explores how an integrated domestic environment for research in publicly funded institutions supports the UK's, including Scotland's, excellent and thriving research base which is vital for innovation and economic success. An independent Scottish state would become responsible for deciding how much to spend on research activity and how to distribute research funding. In order to replace the 2012-13 level of Research Council expenditure in Scotland (£307 million), the government of an independent Scottish state would have to spend 0.23 per cent of 2012 GDP on research or seek additional funding from elsewhere such as overseas, businesses or charities. Businesses and research charities could, however, face additional administrative burdens created by divergences in regulatory regimes and tax jurisdictions, meaning funding projects in both the continuing UK and an independent Scottish state could become more complex. UK national institutions would operate on behalf of the continuing UK as before but would have no power or obligation to act in, or on behalf of, an independent Scottish state. In the event of independence the single strategic and highly integrated research framework would be likely to diverge as an independent Scottish state set and deliver its own research priorities. Research collaborations between the continuing UK and an independent Scottish state would be international collaborations associated with levels of risk not present in domestic collaborations. Research excellence is also supported by the ability of researchers and staff to move freely across the UK and elsewhere, thereby supporting the flow of knowledge

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0101872828

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9780101872829

Third validation compendium report

Vol. 2

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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Third validation compendium report

Vol. 2

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

In 2004, the Government announced 110 Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets for 17 Departments covering the period 2005-08. PSA targets express the priority outcomes that Departments are seeking to achieve nationally and internationally, and cover key aspects of the Government's social, economic and environmental policy. Large sums of public money are devoted to the programmes designed to deliver them. This NAO report contains the detailed results of its examination of the data systems used by six government departments to monitor and report progress against their 2005-08 PSA targets, covering a total of 65 data systems. The six Departments are: the Cabinet Office, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Education and Skills, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and HM Treasury. Findings include that 75 per cent of the data systems used are broadly appropriate, but less than half of these were fully fit for purpose. Most required some action to strengthen measurement or reporting arrangements. A companion volume (HCP 127-I, session 2006-07, ISBN 0102944040) is available separately which contains the NAO's summarised findings.

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ISBN 10

0102944083

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9780102944082

Helping to Shape Tomorrow

The 2011 Census of Population and Housing in England and Wales

By: Great Britain. Cabinet Office

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Helping to Shape Tomorrow

The 2011 Census of Population and Housing in England and Wales

By: Great Britain. Cabinet Office

This paper (Cm. 7513, Helping to Shape Tomorrow, ISBN 9780101751322), sets out the terms of the next census, which is to be held on Sunday 27 March, 2011, in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, subject to separate legislative procedures in the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Census will be the 21st in a series carried out every 10 years in England and Wales since 1801, except 1941. The census provides reliable information on the number and characteristics of the population and their holdholds which is used by government, local authorities, the health service, the education and academic community, commercial business and professional organisations. Key design features of this census will be as follows: that the 2011 Census will cover everyone usually resident in England and Wales; forms will be primarily delivered by post, with the public being able to return completed forms either by post, online or via doorstep collection; there will be more questions in this census, covering issues such as national identity and citizenship, ethnicity, second residences, language, civil partnerships, and the date of entry into the UK for immigrants. The publication in divided into seven chapters.

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128

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The Stationery Office

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ISBN 10

010175132X

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9780101751322

National Audit Office - Department of Energy and Climate Change: The levy Control Framework - HC 815

Department of Energy and Climate Change

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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National Audit Office - Department of Energy and Climate Change: The levy Control Framework - HC 815

Department of Energy and Climate Change

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

In establishing the Levy Control framework, the Government has recognised the importance of monitoring and controlling the considerable cost of energy schemes that consumers fund through their energy bills. The NAO concludes that the Levy Control Framework is a valuable tool for supporting control of the costs to consumers that arise from the Government's energy policies, and has prompted the Department of Energy and Climate Change to monitor actual and expected costs to consumers from the schemes it covers. However, the operation of the Framework has not been fully effective in some key areas. Spending and outcomes have not been linked in deliberations by the joint Treasury and departmental levy control board and reporting on Framework schemes has not supported effective public and parliamentary scrutiny of the overall costs and outcomes from levy-funded spending. As consumer-funded spending on energy policies increases and new schemes are introduced, the Department needs to assure Parliament and the public that it has robust arrangements to monitor, control and report on consumer-funded spending, and the outcomes it is intended to secure. The spending cap under the Levy Control Framework is set to rise from £2 billion in 2011-12 to £7.6 billion in 2020-21 (in 2011-12 prices). By establishing this cap, the Department has provided greater certainty for investors. The NAO's report highlights that the Framework does not cover the consumer-funded Energy Companies Obligation scheme and that it is not yet clear whether it will cover the new Capacity Market including electricity demand reduction measures.

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010298719X

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9780102987195

National Audit Office - Foreign & Commonwealth Office and UK Trade & Investment: Supporting UK Exporters - HC 732

Foreign & Commonwealth Office and UK Trade & Investment

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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National Audit Office - Foreign & Commonwealth Office and UK Trade & Investment: Supporting UK Exporters - HC 732

Foreign & Commonwealth Office and UK Trade & Investment

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

The 2012 Budget, announced the 'ambition' to double the value of exports by 2020 to £1 trillion a year. However current performance has been flat over the last two years and, to meet the Government's ambition, exports will have to grow by 10 per cent year on year. Many factors which affect export performance are outside the control of the FCO and UKTI, such as exchange rates and political and economic changes overseas. While the UK outperforms Germany, France and Italy in the Gulf, it has not traditionally performed as well in many other emerging markets, such as Russia, Brazil, Turkey and China. Success here is essential if the Government is to meet its target. There is a joint UKTI-FCO Board to oversee coordination of their work overseas but currently there is no further joint accountability for planning, monitoring and delivery against their goal. Their initial responses to the government's objectives have not been sufficiently coordinated. UKTI is now increasingly looking to measure actual business outcomes rather than volume of activity. Among the NAO's recommendations is that the FCO improve how it measures and monitors the impact of its activities supporting exports so that it can demonstrate that its spending of some £420 million a year yields tangible results. UKTI is piloting the use of external business partners to provide some of its services, and needs to implement lessons from the evaluation of its pilot initiative to use external partners if it decides to roll it out

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0102986193

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9780102986198

Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2005

By: Great Britain: H.M. Treasury

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Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2005

By: Great Britain: H.M. Treasury

This compendium brings together recent outturn data, estimated outturns for the latest year and spending plans over the whole range of UK public expenditure. It includes data for expenditure for central government, local government and public corporations, as well as an analysis of public expenditure by country and region. Analyses generally cover the nine years 1999-2000 to 2007-08, with some series presented over a longer time period. It is published annually, normally alongside the main supply estimates and supplementary budget information.

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184

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The Stationery Office

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ISBN 10

0101652127

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9780101652124

The economic and fiscal impact of immigration

a cross-departmental submission to the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs

By: Great Britain: Home Office

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The economic and fiscal impact of immigration

a cross-departmental submission to the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs

By: Great Britain: Home Office

This report by the Home Office, HM Treasury, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Office for National Statistics has been produced as a cross-departmental submission to the inquiry being conducted by the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs into the economic impact of immigration in the UK. The report includes chapters on public finance and net fiscal impacts; macroeconomic impacts; labour market, productivity and skills impacts; sectors and occupations; demographic impacts; the economic impact of illegal immigration; improving immigration data; and government policy on immigration. The Office for National Statistics has also produced a separate statistical submission as a background paper to this report.

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0101723725

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9780101723725

Fourth validation compendium report

Vol. 2

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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Fourth validation compendium report

Vol. 2

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

In 2004, the Government announced 110 Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets for 17 Departments covering the period 2005-08. PSA targets express the priority outcomes that Departments are seeking to achieve nationally and internationally, and cover key aspects of the Government's social, economic and environmental policy. Large sums of public money are devoted to the programmes designed to deliver them. This NAO report summarises the results of its examination of the data systems used by twelve government departments to monitor and report progress against their 2005-08 PSA targets, covering a total of 237 data systems. Overall Departments have successfully taken steps to improve the quality of their data systems. There are still improvements that can be made to increase the relevance and reliability of data used in the reporting process. The NAO makes a number of recommendations on specification of data systems, their operation, and the reporting of data. A companion volume (HCP 22-I, ISBN 9780102951615) is available separately which contains the NAO's summarised findings.

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128

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The Stationery Office

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0102951624

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9780102951622

Audit of Assumptions for the 2005 Pre-budget Report

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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Audit of Assumptions for the 2005 Pre-budget Report

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

This report by the National Audit Office, made under sections 156 and 157 of the Finance Act 1998, examines the conventions and assumptions underlying the Treasury's fiscal projections within the Pre-Budget Report 2005 (Cm 6701 ISBN 0101670125).

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0102936536

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9780102936537

Managing the Impact of Housing Benefit Reform

Department for Work and Pensions

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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Managing the Impact of Housing Benefit Reform

Department for Work and Pensions

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

As part of the measures announced in the emergency budget in June 2010 and the Spending Review of October 2010, the Government announced changes to housing benefit, including reductions to local housing allowance rates for private rented sector claimants and deductions in payments to social sector tenants in under-occupied homes. The Department is actively preparing for the implementation of housing benefit reform, using available data to assess the impact of the reforms on current entitlements. It has estimated that the reforms will result in around two million households receiving lower benefits. Claimants with large numbers of children and those living in areas of high rent such as London will be most affected. The Government intends the reforms to improve incentives to work and lead to positive changes for claimants. Reforms could also lead to hardship or an increased risk of homelessness. How tenants and landlords will respond is highly uncertain at the moment and the Department has commissioned independent research to evaluate the impact of the reforms after implementation and is also working with local authorities to identify the extent to which the reforms will increase the administrative. Uprating local housing allowance by the consumer price index, rather than local rent inflation, could put pressure on the supply of affordable local housing. Downward pressure on rents or increased employment would mitigate the impact but NAO analysis indicates that, on current trends, 48 per cent of local authority areas in England could face shortfalls by 2017

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0102980462

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9780102980462

HM Government: Serious Organised Crime Strategy - Cm. 8715

By: Great Britain: Home Office

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HM Government: Serious Organised Crime Strategy - Cm. 8715

By: Great Britain: Home Office

This is a new strategy to deal with the challenges we face from serious and organised crime. It is published to coincide with the launch of the new National Crime Agency (NCA) and reflects changes to the threats faced and the lessons learned from previous work. Organised crime includes drug trafficking, human trafficking, and organised illegal immigration, high value fraud and other financial crimes, counterfeiting, organised acquisitive crime and cyber crime. The aim of the strategy is to substantially reduce the level of serious and organised crime affecting the UK and its interests. The strategy uses the framework developed for our counter-terrorist work and has four components: prosecuting and disrupting people engaged in serious and organised crime (Pursue); preventing people from engaging in this activity (Prevent); increasing protection against serious and organised crime (Protect); and reducing the impact of this criminality where it takes place (Prepare). The strategy lists strategic objectives under each of the four areas of work. Tactical operational objectives (e.g. priority crime groups) will be set by the NCA with law enforcement agency counterparts. Our immediate priority is the work set out under Pursue to prosecute and relentlessly disrupt organised criminals and reduce the threat they pose. Like other threats to our national security, serious and organised crime requires a response across the whole of government, and close collaboration with the public, the private sector and with many other countries

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010187152X

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9780101871525

Local labour market analysis

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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Local labour market analysis

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

This NAO report considers the patterns of work and worklessness in the United Kingdom, with an analysis on national, regional and local level. The report sets out a number of findings, including: that competition for vacancies is greater in some regions and local areas than others; the workless population have significantly lower qualifications than the work-in population, and in their last job, were more likely to have worked in lower skilled jobs; that the economically inactive have characteristics that are further removed from the employed than those of the unemployed; the relationship between qualifications, jobs and worklessness is not simple; disability has an impact on working and worklessness; black and minority ethnic groups have a lower employment rate, however the degree of the employment gap varies between areas; Jobsearch methods of the workless differ substantially from the methods reported as successful by those in work; Jobcentre use varies by region, sector, qualification level, and ethnicity; local area analysis shows significant differences within and between locations

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0102951241

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9780102951240

Economic and fiscal outlook March 2011

By: Office for Budget Responsibility

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Economic and fiscal outlook March 2011

By: Office for Budget Responsibility

The Office for Budget Responsibility was established to provide independent and authoritative analysis of the UK's public finances. Part of this role includes producing the official economic and fiscal forecasts. This report sets out forecasts for the period to 2015-16. The report also assesses whether the Government is on course to meet the medium-term fiscal objectives and presents preliminary observations on the long-run sustainability of the public finances. Since the November 2010 outlook, the key economic developments have been an unexpected fall in UK GDP in the final quarter of 2010, a rise in world oil prices, and higher-than-expected UK inflation. The labour market has performed as expected, with unemployment rising. The OBR endorse all but one of the costings for the tax and spending measures set out in Budget 2011 (HC 836, ISBN 9780102971033) as reasonable central estimates, though there are significant uncertainties around a number of them. The central forecast for economic growth in 2011 is revised down from 2.1 to 1.7 per cent. On the fiscal outlook, OBR forecast that public sector net borrowing will decline steadily as share of national income, but more slowly than forecast in November. The Government set itself two medium-term fiscal targets: to balance the cyclically-adjusted current budget by the end of a rolling five-year period; and to see public sector debt falling in 2015-16. Examining performance against these targets, the OBR believe there is a greater than 50 per cent probability of meeting both targets under current policy.

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180

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The Stationery Office

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ISBN 10

0101803621

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9780101803625

The efficiency programme

a second review of progress

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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The efficiency programme

a second review of progress

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

Government departments have been set a series of targets for implementing efficiency gains of £21.5 billion a year by 2007-08, as part of the Treasury's Efficiency Programme following on from the Gershon Review of public sector efficiency. This NAO report finds that considerable progress has been made by departments towards achieving the efficiency targets, and the Efficiency Programme has ensured a greater focus on value for money issues among senior staff. Progress has also been made in addressing measurement issues, supported by new guidance issued by the Office of Government Commerce, although some reported efficiency gains still carry a significant risk of inaccuracy. The OGC has also initiated a new reporting system to improve the accuracy of reported efficiency gains, but this would benefit from a greater review process to assess whether they meet good practice, either through a stronger internal audit within departments or by the OGC. Departments must improve the transparency of the reporting process, and do more to encourage staff to put forward ideas for efficiency improvements. A companion volume is available separately (HCP 156-II, session 2006-07, ISBN 9780102944372) containing twelve opinion pieces on options to improve efficiency in the public sector, written by commentators from the fields of business, trade unions, academia and management consultancy.

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0102944385

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9780102944389

Scotland Analysis

Devolution and the Implications of Scottish Independence

By: Great Britain: Scotland Office

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Scotland Analysis

Devolution and the Implications of Scottish Independence

By: Great Britain: Scotland Office

The UK Government is undertaking a major cross-government programme of analysis prior to the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014. The aim is to provide a comprehensive and detailed analysis of Scotland's place in the UK. This paper, the first of a series to be published in 2013 and 2014, examines the UK's constitutional set-up and the legal implications of independence. The UK Government is convinced that the current devolution offers the best for Scotland: the Scottish Parliament and Government are empowered to take decisions on a range of domestic policy areas - such as health, education, policing - while Scotland continues to benefit from decisions made for the UK as a whole - defence and security, foreign representation, economic affairs. Independence is very different to devolution. Based on independent expert opinion (published as Annex A), the paper concludes that if there were to be a vote in favour of leaving the UK, Scotland would become an entirely new state whilst the remainder of the UK would continue as before, retaining the rights and obligations of the UK as it currently stands. Any separation would have to be negotiated between both governments. Legal and practical implications of independence, both at home and abroad, are addressed. An independent Scotland would have to apply to and/or negotiate to become a member of whichever international organisations it wished to join, including the EU and NATO. Scotland would also have to work through its positions on thousands of international treaties to which the UK is currently party.

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114

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The Stationery Office

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ISBN 10

0101855427

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9780101855426

OHE Compendium of Health Statistics 2009

By: Emma Hawe,Office of Health Economics (London, England)

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OHE Compendium of Health Statistics 2009

By: Emma Hawe,Office of Health Economics (London, England)

The compendium aims to provide in a single volume a wide range of statistical information on health and health care in the UK and its four constituent countries, including long time series and comparisons with other economically developed nations.

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308

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Radcliffe Publishing

Published Date

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1846193184

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9781846193187

Office for Budget Responsibility

economic and fiscal outlook

By: Office for Budget Responsibility

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Office for Budget Responsibility

economic and fiscal outlook

By: Office for Budget Responsibility

This economic and fiscal outlook sets out the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast for the period to 2016-17. The economy has grown less strongly than forecast in March primarily because higher-than-expected inflation has squeezed household incomes and consumer spending. The eurozone crisis has impacted on business and consumer confidence. Consequently the OBR has revised it growth forecasts downwards. It expects the underlying momentum of the economy to pick up through 2012 but with the headline measure of GDP broadly flat until the second half. The central forecast is now for 0.7 per cent growth in GDP in 20102, 2.1 per cent in 2013, 2.7 per cent in 2014, and 3 per cent in 2015 and 2016. Public sector net borrowing (PSNB) is expected to total £127 this year (8.4 per cent of GDP), but the downward revision of growth forecasts means the deficit will shrink less quickly over the next five years, with a forecast £53 billion PSNB (2.9 per cent of GDP) in 2015-16. Unemployment is expected to rise further to 8.7 per cent in 2012 before falling back to 6.2 per cent by 2016. The OBR estimates that the Government has a roughly 60 per cent of meeting its mandate to balance the structural or cyclically-adjusted current budget by 2016-17. The central economic and fiscal forecasts assume that the euro area finds a way through its current crisis, but a more disorderly outcome is clearly a significant risk.

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200

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The Stationery Office

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0101821824

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9780101821827

HM Government: Scotland Analysis: Security - Cm. 8741

Security

By: Great Britain: Scotland Office

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HM Government: Scotland Analysis: Security - Cm. 8741

Security

By: Great Britain: Scotland Office

This paper analyses the UK's approach to identifying and managing threats to the national security of the UK, and the implications for these arrangements of a vote for independence. It complements analysis of the UK's approach to defence explored elsewhere in the Scotland analysis series. It is clearly in the UK's interests to be surrounded by secure and resilient neighbouring countries, including - in the event of a yes vote - an independent Scottish state. While the UK endeavours to work with other countries and international organisations to improve security and fight organised crime for everyone's mutual benefit there is something qualitatively different about being influential and intimately connected with the rest of the UK by being a part of it. Issues of national security are of the utmost sensitivity, linked to a country's foreign, security and defence policy posture, and any decisions are closely related to matters of sovereignty and democratic accountability. For this reason, a security union is closely connected to the existence of a political union. The creation of an independent Scottish state would see an end to the current arrangements for ensuring Scotland's security, as Scotland, including Police Scotland, would no longer be part of the UK's national security infrastructure and capabilities. In practical terms this means that the present level of strategic and operational communication and co-ordination that occurs everyday across the UK, with Scotland playing a key role within it - whether concerned with counter-terrorism, fighting serious and organised crime or protecting against cyber threats - would end

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010187412X

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9780101874120

Delivering the cancer reform strategy

Department of Health

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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Delivering the cancer reform strategy

Department of Health

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

Improvements and efficiencies have been made in key areas of cancer care since the Cancer Reform Strategy was published in 2007. The NAO estimates that cancer cost the NHS approximately £6.3 billion in 2008-09, but it is not clear if the implementation of the Strategy is achieving value for money. Reported spending on cancer care varies between PCTs - in 2008-09 varying from £55 to £154 per head - and there is unexplained variation from year to year. Significant reductions have been made in the number of days cancer patients spend in hospital - largely as a result of increasingly treating patients as day cases. The Strategy aimed to minimise emergency admissions for cancer patients, but these are still increasing, with wide variations between PCTs and poor understanding of the reasons for those variations. There are opportunities to achieve better outcomes and free up resources. Reducing the average length of stay in hospital to the level of the best performing PCTs, efficiencies worth some £113 million a year could be achieved. If the number of inpatient admissions per new cancer diagnosis was reduced to the level of the best performing PCT, bed days equivalent to around £106 million each year could be saved. Radiotherapy machines could be used more productively to help the NHS meet increasing demand. High quality information is essential to be able to commission services successfully and to monitor performance. Some information on cancer has improved, but significant gaps still remain.

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0102965552

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9780102965551

Major trauma care in England

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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Major trauma care in England

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

Care for patients who have suffered major trauma, for example following a road accident or a fall, has not significantly improved in the last 20 years despite numerous reports identifying poor practice, and services are not being delivered efficiently or effectively. Survival rates vary significantly, with a range from five unexpected survivors to eight unexpected deaths per 100 trauma patients, reflecting the variable quality of care. 450 to 600 lives could be saved each year in England if major trauma care was managed more effectively. For best outcomes care should be led by consultants experienced in major trauma; but major trauma is most likely to occur at night and at weekends, when consultants are not normally in the emergency department. Major trauma care is not coordinated and there are no formal arrangements for taking patients directly for specialist treatment or transferring them between hospitals. A significant number of patients that need a scan CT do not receive one. Not enough patients who need a critical care bed are given one. Access to rehabilitation services varies and patients are not always receiving the care that they need. The estimated annual lost economic output from deaths and serious injuries from major trauma is between £3.3 billion and £3.7 billion. Only 60 per cent of hospitals delivering major trauma care contribute to the Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN). The performance of the 40 per cent of hospitals that do not submit data to TARN cannot be measured.

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0102963479

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9780102963472

Formula funding of local public services

cross-government landscape review

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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Formula funding of local public services

cross-government landscape review

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

The complexity of the formulae used by government departments to provide funding to local public bodies is partly down to the nature of the services being funded, and partly to the fact that the formulae attempt to achieve multiple objectives. The different approaches to formula funding have evolved over time, but key choices in the design and operation of the formulae remain open to question. Of the three funding arrangements on which it reports, the NAO concludes that the Department for Education and the Department for Communities and Local Government have not set out clearly, or explicitly prioritised, their multiple objectives for the design and distribution of Dedicated Schools Grant and Formula Grant. This prevents analysis of the extent to which the formulae represent the best way to satisfy objectives. Each of the formulae is grounded in an assessment of relative needs, but other aspects of their design differ. All of the funding arrangements include provisions to ensure funding stability. Stability reduces budget variation from year to year, making financial planning and stable service provision less problematic. But this has led to some local bodies being funded for extended periods significantly above or below needs-assessed levels. Population data are the biggest determinants of funding, and Departments use the most current data available. As many inputs are census-based, a quarter of those used in Formula Grant and ten per cent of those used for Primary Care Trust allocations, are based on data sources that are now ten or more years old.

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0102969922

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9780102969924

Reducing Alcohol Harm

Health Services in England for Alcohol Misuse; Department of Health

By: Great Britain. National Audit Office

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Reducing Alcohol Harm

Health Services in England for Alcohol Misuse; Department of Health

By: Great Britain. National Audit Office

This NAO report (HC 1049, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780102954333), examines the health service provision in England in respect of dealing with alcohol misuse. It is estimated that more than 10 million people are now regularly drinking above the guidelines set by Government, with the consequent ill health and injury. Between 1995-2007, hospital admissions for the three main alcohol-specific conditions (alcohol-related liver disease, mental health disorders linked to alcohol and acute intoxication) more than doubled, from 93,459 to 207,788. In 2006, there were 8,758 deaths from alcohol-related causes, twice as many as there were 15 years earlier. The Department of Health has estimated that alcohol misuse costs the health service £2.7 billion per year, along with the social costs, such as crime and disorder, social and family breakdown as well as sickness absence. The Cabinet Office has put the total cost of alcohol misuse in the UK economy of up to £25.1 billion. The NAO has set out a number of main findings and recommendations, including: that a quarter of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) had not accurately assessed the alcohol problems in their area; that many PCTs do not have a strategy for alcohol harm or a clear picture of spending on such services; that local provision for specialist services is not based on a good understanding of a communities' needs, with wide variations between localities; that few PCTs collect detailed data on local patterns of alcohol misuse; that money spent on identification and brief advice can be cost effective, helping to re-empt the need for more expensive services; that PCTs need to coordinate more effectively with other public bodies, such as the police, prisons and probation staff, as well as social services to identify and help people who are misusing alcohol; that at present no systematic means of promoting good evidence-based practice on alcohol harm across PCTs exists.

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010295433X

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Government interventions to support retirement incomes

Department for Work and Pensions and HM Treasury

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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Government interventions to support retirement incomes

Department for Work and Pensions and HM Treasury

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

Government measures to reduce the liability of the state for supporting people in their retirement are being managed separately, without adequate consideration of their combined impact on the overall objective of increasing retirement incomes. There is no overarching programme or single accountability for encouraging people to save for retirement. The Treasury leads on overall savings strategy, and DWP on workplace saving but, without a whole system view there is a risk that individual, but co-dependent interventions may not be effective in increasing saving for retirement. Spending on the state pension and pensioner benefits increased from 5.5 per cent of GDP in 1990 to 6.9 per cent in 2011-12, in part because of the growing pensioner population, but also because of increased spending per capita on pensioner benefits. The Government expects to reduce the potential long-term spending liability by increasing the future state pension age, introducing automatic enrolment into workplace pensions and changing the state pension. However the existing initiatives to manage this problem face challenges. Government does not have a formal published strategy to influence employers. The success of encouraging saving for retirement through automatic enrolment into a pension also depends on the responses of individuals, pension providers and employers - in particular on the proportion of employees who remain with the schemes. The value of the UK state pension, as a proportion of pre-retirement earnings, has historically been low compared to other developed countries, and projections for future spending on state pensions and pensioner benefits may prove too optimistic

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0102983798

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9780102983791

Equality

the Government's response to the report of the Communities and Local Government Committee

By: Great Britain: Government Equalities Office

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Equality

the Government's response to the report of the Communities and Local Government Committee

By: Great Britain: Government Equalities Office

This document sets out the Government's response to the Committee's report (HCP 468, session 2006-07, ISBN 9780215035820) into equality issues, including the establishment of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the introduction of the Equality Bill, the priorities of the Minister for Women, the Equalities Review and the Equalities Public Service Agreement.

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0101724624

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9780101724623

Reducing healthcare associated infections in hospitals in England

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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Reducing healthcare associated infections in hospitals in England

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

The Department of Health introduced a target to reduce MRSA across all NHS trusts by 50 per cent by 2008 and C. difficile by 30 per cent by 2010-11. MRSA had been reduced by 57 per cent by the end of March 2008 and C. difficile by 41 per cent. While a quarter of trusts have reduced MRSA by more than 80 per cent, in 12 per cent of trusts there has been an increase in MRSA infections. Twenty-nine per cent of trusts have reduced C. difficile by more than 50 per cent, but in 19 per cent of hospital trusts the numbers of C. difficile infections have increased. Since the introduction of the targets, the Department has spent some £120 million tackling healthcare associated infections. There have also been unquantifiable administrative costs and local expenditure on the drive to reduce infection rates. These initiatives have led to savings on treatment of between £141 million and £263 million, as well as reducing discomfort, disability and, for some, death that might have been caused by these avoidable infections. There has also been a perceptible change in trust leadership on tackling infections. The impact has not, however, been the same in all trusts or for other infections. Following the Department's intervention to improve recording on death certificates where MRSA or C. difficile was the underlying cause or a contributory factor, in 2007 around 9,000 people were reported as having died in such circumstances. There is still no national information on deaths from other healthcare associated infections such as urinary tract infections and pneumonia and blood stream infections due to other causes may be increasing.

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0102955042

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9780102955040

Management of NHS hospital productivity

Department of Health

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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Management of NHS hospital productivity

Department of Health

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

Productivity in hospitals has been falling by around 1.4 per cent a year since 2000 whilst NHS expenditure has increased by over two thirds in ten years. The Department of Health has achieved significant improvements in such areas as waiting times, healthcare associated infection rates, patient outcomes, reduced cancer mortality and the patient experience. However, the NHS pay contracts introduced since 2003 have increased costs but are not always used effectively by hospitals to drive productivity improvements. The NHS needs to deliver between £15 billion and £20 billion of efficiency savings per year by 2013-14. Around 40 per cent of these savings are expected to come from increasing efficiency in hospitals, requiring productivity gains of approximately six per cent per annum. The 'Payment by Results' system of setting national tariffs has promoted some efficient practice, but there is still substantial variation between hospitals. If all hospitals performed at the level of the top 25 per cent in respect of staff costs, use of estate, control of emergency admissions and bed management, the NAO estimates that the NHS could save around £1.6 billion a year. The Department has launched a national initiative (QIPP) to help the NHS deliver annual savings of up to £20 billion. There are risks to the delivery of the initiative, which is the responsibility of Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts, whose focus may be distracted by the proposals for their closure by 2013.

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0102970025

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9780102970029

NHS pay modernisation

new contracts for general practice services in England

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

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NHS pay modernisation

new contracts for general practice services in England

By: Great Britain: National Audit Office

Each year general medical practices provide some 290 million consultations. The new contract (implemented in April 2004 but increased spending began in April 2003) changed the basis for commissioning primary care services. Instead of contracting with individual General Practitioners (GPs), Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) commission services from some 8,325 GP practices with around 33,000 GPs. This study examines the negotiation and implementation of the new contract and how well it is working in practice. In the first three years the PCTs spent £1.76 billion (9.4 per cent) more than the minimum committed by the Department of Health. Mostly this was due to an underestimation of the amount that GPs would earn from the pay for performance scheme, the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), and the additional cost of providing out-of-hours care (most GPs have opted out of providing this service). GPs' salaries have increased by an average of 58 per cent. Practice nurses have not benefited to the same extent. While the number of consultations with patients has increased, these are not in proportion with the increase in costs, and productivity has fallen by 2.5 per cent per year. GPs are working less hours. Some progress has been made in extending the range of patient services, reduced administration, high quality care and linking pay and performance, and staff satisfaction and morale. Progress has not yet been demonstrated in productivity, and re-designing the services around patients. The contract has contributed to improved recruitment and retention of GPs. The NAO recommends that the Department develop a strategy for yearly negotiations on the QOF, which should be based more on health outcomes. PCTs should provide more services based on local need and review the number and skills of staff employed to commission and performance manage GP services with the aim of improving local commissioning.

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