A NAO report published as HC 30, Session 2009-10.

Fraud, corruption and bribery in and around public services have become an increasing concern in recent years. The reported level of fraud and corruption affecting the public sector has remained unacceptably high despite numerous national and international initiatives intended to tackle these crimes and their consequences. Fraud and Corruption in Public Services is a definitive, practical guide to the diverse risks that arise in central and local government. There is guidance on civil and criminal law around fraud, bribery and corruption as well as the national and international governmental measures and initiatives for countering this form of criminality. Most importantly of all, the book offers advice, practical examples and strategies for preventing and combating fraud, bribery and corruption. The text is readable, well-informed and intensely practical; illustrated throughout with real-life examples from the author's 40 year career.

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

In challenging circumstances in 2011-12, HM Revenue and Customs maintained its performance in key strategic areas at the same time as reducing its staff and spending. The challenge for HMRC will be to make more and deeper reductions over the spending review period while increasing tax revenues, improving customer service and introducing its 'real time information' project and changes to benefits and credits. HMRC made £296 million of savings in 2011-12, exceeding its target by 19 per cent. This is about a third of the total savings it is required to make over the four years of the spending review period. However, HMRC expects these projects to save £162 million less over the spending review period than when the NAO last reported on this subject, in July 2011. This is partly because its forecasts are now more refined and realistic, and partly because, as some projects took longer to start, the benefits will take longer to be realised. HMRC has strengthened how it manages its change programme in ways that address NAO and Public Accounts Committee recommendations. The Department has also started to address the recommendations that it should improve its understanding of interdependencies between projects and of the cost and value of its activities though it has more to do in these areas. At September 2012, HMRC was on track to exceed its 2012-13 cost reduction target by £29 million. However, the reduction in planned savings being delivered by change projects means that HMRC needs to find £66 million more savings than it originally planned through other initiatives

This timely book examines the legal regulation of Public_Private Partnerships (PPPs) and provides a systematic overview of PPPs and their functions. It covers both the contractual relationships between public and private actors and the relationships be

The Chancellor's departments faced extraordinary challenges during 2008-09, mainly arising from the need to respond to the emerging financial crisis and associated economic downturn. The report concludes that it is very difficult to draw final conclusions regarding their level of success - too much remains unfinished business. It draws attention, in particular, to the new relationship between the Treasury and UKFI, and recommends that the Government considers whether the formal terms of the relationship need some re-definition in the light of experience. The report is particularly concerned by the dire results for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) of a cross-Government staff survey pilot study. The Report calls for HMRC management to publish a clear and detailed plan to provide focus and direction to their efforts to re-engage with their workforce. Noting a rise in customer complaints and that, on average, only 57 per cent of calls to HMRC contact centres were answered during 2008-09. HMRC should publish more data to enable effective scrutiny of its performance against its targets, data which is essential for tax gaps to be closed and for the take up of the working tax credit to be assessed and improved. The Report is critical of the failure of most departments to provide accurate and timely monthly in-year figures to the Treasury. Other sections of the report cover National Savings & Investment, the revaluation of UK statutory ports and the performance of the Royal Mint.

In Autumn 2009, HMRC reported it had achieved savings of some £300 million. The NAO examined reported savings in staffing, estates, IT and procurement which totalled £288 million a year, some 90 per cent of the reported total savings. The NAO rated 42 per cent (£121 million) as sustainable savings (green), 45 per cent (£129 million) as savings but with some uncertainty (amber) and 13 per cent (£38 million) as overstated (red). This report accompanies the broader NAO progress report on VFM savings (HC 291, 9780102965391)

'Carrera and Dunleavy provide a crystal clear and comprehensive account of the complex issues involved in how best to improve the productivity of government services. They offer a nuanced but powerful explanation of productivity puzzles, conundrums and dilemmas in the public sector. But they also offer solutions to many of these problems. Finally, I have found a text on public economics that makes sense, gives genuine management insights and offers real suggestions to practitioners as to what to do next.' – Barry Quirk, Chief Executive, London Borough of Lewisham, UK 'This book presents a welcome and sobering analysis of productivity performance in UK central government – a subject that has received remarkably little serious academic attention up to now, in spite of decades of general commentary on managerialism.' – Christopher Hood, All Souls College, UK 'Leandro Carrera and Patrick Dunleavy have performed an amazing feat in this book through their rigorous examination of a thorny topic that has dogged pundits and academics alike. Just how efficient is government and how well does it do its job? As a result of an impressive – but accessible – set of data analyses, the authors make an authoritative attack on the proponents of the New Public Management, and offer some clear recommendations for reform based on better use of new technology.' – Peter John, University College London, UK Productivity is essentially the ratio of an organization's outputs divided by its inputs. For many years it was treated as always being static in government agencies. In fact productivity in government services should be rising rapidly as a result of digital changes and new management approaches, and it has done so in some agencies. However, Dunleavy and Carrera show for the first time how complex are the factors affecting productivity growth in government organizations – especially management practices, use of IT, organizational culture, strategic mis-decisions and political and policy churn. With government budgets under stress in many countries, this pioneering book shows academics, analysts and officials how to measure outputs and productivity in detail; how to cope with problems of quality variations; and how to achieve year-on-year, sustainable improvements in the efficiency of government services.

Foundations for the LPC covers the compulsory foundation areas of the Legal Practice Course as set out in the LPC outcomes: professional conduct, tax and revenue law, and wills and administration of estates. The book also discusses human rights law, a topic now taught pervasively across the LPC course. Using worked examples and scenarios throughout to illustrate key points, this guide is essential reading for all students and a useful reference source for practitioners. To aid understanding and test comprehension of the core material, checkpoints and summaries feature in every chapter.

This report examines the effectiveness and efficiency of the current education system for 16- to 18-year-olds. In 2009, over 1.6 million 16- to 18-year-olds participated in some form of education and training at a cost of over £6 billion. Most studied full-time for qualifications such as A levels or National Vocational Qualifications, at a general further education college, sixth form college or school sixth form. The system governing the education of 16- to 18-year-olds is devolved and complex. The Department for Education (the Department) has overall responsibility, and the Young People's Learning Agency funds education providers and monitors their performance. Local authorities have a duty to secure provision but they have limited powers, and having duties without powers cannot work effectively. There has been an overall improvement in the achievements of 16- to 18-year-olds over the last four years. Students in larger providers have generally achieved better results. Smaller providers, by collaborating, can achieve some of the benefits of size. In a market, consistently poor providers should fail because they lose funding as students choose to study elsewhere. For the 16 to 18 education market to work effectively, there needs to be consistent and relevant information so the Department can assess value for money and students can make informed judgements about their courses and what they lead to. Also, where a provider's performance is poor, there must be clarity about the criteria for intervention, and the timing and extent of intervention. Neither is fully in place at present.