Excess votes in 2010-11

Excess votes in 2010-11 PDF

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2012-02-02

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13: 9780215041586

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The Committee of Public Accounts scrutinises the reasons behind individual Departments exceeding their allocated resources, and reports to the House of Commons on whether it has any objection to the amounts needed to rectify the reported excesses. The Committee may also make recommendations to Departments concerning the causes of these excesses. In 2010-11, two bodies breached their expenditure limits: The Department for Transport breached its Net Cash Requirement by £335.2 million, primarily because of weaknesses in monitoring its budget for the operation of its rail franchises; The Teachers' Pension Scheme (England & Wales) breached its Net Cash Requirement by £11.9 million because the Department for Education underestimated the number of members that would retire in 2010-11 and overestimated the contributions that would be collected from employers. On the basis of an examination of the reasons why these two bodies exceeded their voted provisions, the Committee has no objection to Parliament providing the necessary amounts by means of an Excess Vote. Nevertheless, it expects both bodies to set out what actions they have taken to improve their financial management and avoid exceeding their allocated resources in the future.

Excess Votes in 2011-12

Excess Votes in 2011-12 PDF

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2013-02-07

Total Pages: 22

ISBN-13: 9780215054050

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Excess Votes 2012-13 - HC 1068

Excess Votes 2012-13 - HC 1068 PDF

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014-04-30

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13: 0215071778

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The Committee of Public Accounts scrutinises the reasons behind individual departments exceeding their allocated resources, and reports to the House of Commons on whether it has any objection to the amounts needed to rectify the reported excesses. In 2012-13 two bodies breached their expenditure limits: the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Food Standards Agency. The Ministry of Defence also required a token increase because of a Defence Votes A excess. On the basis of the examination of the reasons why these bodies exceeded their voted, the Committee has no objection to Parliament providing the necessary amounts by means of an Excess Vote. Nevertheless, it expects the Department for Communities and Local Government to set out what actions it has taken to improve their financial management and avoid exceeding their allocated resources in the future. And, as recommended last year, HM Treasury, as the UK's Ministry of Finance, should ensure departments are fully aware of the need to operate within their voted provisions. HM Treasury should continue to regularly monitor the progress departments are making against their Estimates during the year and, where possible, take appropriate action to prevent departments exceeding their provision.

Model Rules of Professional Conduct

Model Rules of Professional Conduct PDF

Author: American Bar Association. House of Delegates

Publisher: American Bar Association

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 9781590318737

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The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

Sessional Returns

Sessional Returns PDF

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2012-09-14

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 9780215048387

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On cover and title page: House, committees of the whole House, general committees and select committees

Reducing costs in the Department for Transport

Reducing costs in the Department for Transport PDF

Author: Great Britain: National Audit Office

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2011-12-14

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 9780102977059

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The 2010 spending review set a transport budget that is 15 per cent lower in 2014-15 compared with 2010-11. All areas of spending are affected by reductions, but the Highways Agency sees the biggest reduction, with a budget falling from £3.2 billion in 2010-11 to £2.1 billion in 2014-15. The Department felt constrained in altering some areas of spending, most significantly excluding from consideration the current grant to Network Rail. In a sample of 73 per cent of the Department's budget, over half of the reductions, compared to planned spending, are the result of cuts, delays to new investment or higher fares rather than new approaches to delivering the same services for less. The Department had a good understanding of the relationship between costs and benefits regarding specific transport projects such as Crossrail and national road schemes. Information was less good in other areas, the weakest being in rail. The Department commissioned work to improve its information on the costs and benefits from grants to Transport for London and local authorities. There is a risk now that a proportion of the budget reductions in road maintenance and rail budgets may not be financially sustainable. Budget reductions of £1.23 billion will be made to national and local road maintenance; however, this includes £223 million of unspecified efficiencies, risking deterioration in road quality and higher long term costs to the Department or local authorities. One year after the spending review, it is too early to assess with confidence progress on the major cost reduction measures, as most of the critical milestones against which progress can be judged lie ahead

Department for Education

Department for Education PDF

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2012-05-11

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13: 9780215044075

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The Department for Education is distributing £56.4 billion in 2011-12 to schools, local authorities and other public bodies for the delivery of education and children's services in England. The Department has set out how it intends to provide Parliament with assurance about the regularity, propriety and value for money in an Accountability System Statement (the Statement) of which the Committee has now seen three drafts. Responsibility for value for money is shared by the Department with schools, academy trusts, local authorities, the Young People's Learning Agency and the Department for Communities and Local Government. However, the Statement does not yet clearly describe the specific responsibilities of each body, how these will interact, or how the Department will assess value for money across the entire education system. The Department relies on local authorities and the YPLA to exercise financial oversight over local authority maintained schools and academies respectively. However, oversight by some local authorities is currently weak and could worsen as many authorities reduce the resources they devote to overseeing their schools. There are also concerns about whether the YPLA will have the right skills, systems and capacity to oversee the rapidly increasing numbers of academies expected in coming years. More consistent requirements for data and data returns must be applied to all schools so that academic and financial performance can be benchmarked, and all schools can be held accountable. The Department needs to enforce these requirements more stringently, particularly given previous problems with lack of compliance

HM Revenue & Customs accounts 2010-11

HM Revenue & Customs accounts 2010-11 PDF

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2011-12-20

Total Pages: 170

ISBN-13: 9780215040077

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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 London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games

The London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games PDF

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2013-04-19

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 9780215056818

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The success of the London 2012 Games demonstrates that it is possible for government departments to work together and with other bodies effectively to deliver complex programmes. The £9.298 billion Public Sector Funding Package for the Games is set to be underspent. The Department is also committed to reflect on what more it can do to present costs in a way that goes further and brings out those costs associated with the Games and the legacy that are not covered by the Funding Package. The notable blemish on planning for the Games was venue security. Also, during the Games a large number of accredited seats went unused at events for which the public demand for tickets could not be met. International sports bodies and media organisations wield a lot of power but demands should be challenged. It is now up to the London Legacy Development Corporation to attract investment in the Olympic Park and generate the promised returns to funders. There is concern that the lottery good causes do not have any clear influence over decisions about future sales, despite these decisions directly affecting how much will be available to them and when. On the wider legacy, we look to the Cabinet Office to provide strong leadership to ensure delivery of the longer term benefits. The Government also needs to do all it can to learn and disseminate lessons and to encourage volunteering opportunities both within sport and beyond