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SubscriptionsAuthor: David Hencke
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Government’s Target to Abolish Fossil Fuel Use in All Power Generation by 2035 Not Credible, Report Finds
The Government is expecting taxpayers to pay through their fuel bills for the transition to zero use of fossil fuels but has given no indication of the extra cost
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Rishi Sunak Will Fail Key Pledges on Migrants, National Audit Office Reveals
The official watchdog says both the Prime Minister’s promises – to reduce asylum seekers backlog and stop housing them in hotels – will not be met
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Council Coffers Crisis Revealed: Auditing of Public Money by Local Authorities Collapses – So How is Taxpayers’ Cash Being Spent?
Serious problems have arisen after the Government abolished the Audit Commission and handed the job to private accountancy firms instead
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Government Fraud Quadruples on Rishi Sunak’s Watch, New Report Reveals
HMRC contributed enormously to the rise in fraud after the then Chancellor approved tens of billions to be spent on pandemic support schemes
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‘Not the Radical Reset Children’s Care Needs’
A new parliamentary reports criticises the Government’s plans for young people’s care – with the Home Secretary announcing that the same strategy will be used to tackle child sexual abuse
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MPs Warn Parliament Risks Being Destroyed in ‘Catastrophic Event’ as Delays in Repairs Rumble On
Parliament is spending £100 million a year – a staggering £2 million of taxpayers’ money every week – patching up repairs, while next steps on its renovation are still to be decided
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‘Totally Unacceptable’ Cabinet Office Failures in Security Vetting
MPs lambast the Cabinet Office for failing to get a grip over security vetting for top civil servants and putting national security at risk, reports David Hencke
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British Firms Spend Less on Skills Retraining After Brexit, New Report Finds
The number of adults participating in government-funded further education and skills training has dropped dramatically, according to a report by a parliamentary committee
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Former Prime Ministers Receive £6 Million from Taxpayer in 13 Years for Expenses
Following the disclosure that Boris Johnson and Liz Truss will be able to claim £115k a year, David Hencke discovers Tony Blair made highest claim on the public purse, and Theresa the lowest
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Ministers Should Face Legal Sanctions for Breaking Rules, say MPs
David Hencke reports on the Commons Committee which proposes wholesale reform of the ‘toothless’ regulators supposed to safeguard propriety in public office
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Watchdog Thwarted from Deciding Whether £120 Million ‘Festival of Brexit’ Provided Value for Money
The Conservative chair of Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has said questions must be asked as to ‘what the festival was for and whether it was worth it’
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Rishi Sunak’s £20 Billion COVID Fraud Black Hole
With the Government facing a massive shortfall in its finances, MPs report on how billions were lost by the Treasury during the time the current Prime Minister was Chancellor
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Randox Lawyers’ Attempts to Stall Parliamentary Report on Covid Testing Contracts
MPs have made public the correspondence between Schillings and the Public Accounts Committee over the publication of their report on the £600 million in Covid contracts
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Government Rushing Ahead with Voter ID Next Year Despite Warning It Poses ‘Significant Risk to Safe Elections’
David Hencke reports on the controversial move to make voters bring photographic ID when they turn up to vote in next year’s May local elections in England
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Government ‘Close to Decriminalising Waste Crime and Fly-Tipping’, say MPs
A Commons report accuses the Government of turning a blind eye to organised crime by failing to punish hundreds of thousands of offences which cost the taxpayer at least £1bn a year
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Government Losing Control Over Public Spending, Report Warns
The method used to track state expenditure is now ‘increasingly unreliable and incomplete’, reports David Hencke
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Billions Paid to Booming Firms by Government During Pandemic
Inadequate record-keeping also risks losing the taxpayer billions more in fraud, reports David Hencke
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Government’s Prevent Strategy Oversight Committee has Never Met Since Conservatives Won 2019 General Election
A Freedom of Information request by Civil Service World has raised questions about the flagship counter-terrorism scheme
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MPs Condemn Government’s ‘Rushed’ Awarding of Contracts to Randox
The Public Accounts Committee claims it is ‘impossible to have confidence’ that contracts awarded to the testing provider during the pandemic were ‘awarded properly’, reports David Hencke
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Climate and Corruption Concerns over ‘Rushed’ UK-India Trade Deal
Peers have expressed alarm about the Government’s approach to one of its flagship post-Brexit trade deals, reports David Hencke
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Flagship Levelling Up Project Won’t Materialise for Decades, Report Warns
Overcrowded, unreliable services look set to plague the north for some time to come, writes David Hencke
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Conservative Anti-Strike Laws Condemned by Lords
Senior peers have slammed the Government’s attempts to sabotage strike action, reports David Hencke
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Turmoil Continues Over Government’s Flagship National Holocaust Memorial
Overspending and legal wrangling is causing concerns over the £100 million commemoration, reports David Hencke
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Australian Free Trade Deal Hampers UK on Environmental and Food Standards, says Parliamentary Report
The UK’s first post-Brexit free trade agreement with Australia was so rushed that protection for niche British products was overlooked, according to a Parliamentary report
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UK’s Ability to Deal With Animal Disease Pandemics Compromised Due to Lack of Investment
David Hencke has the details of a shocking new report showing how a flagship science laboratory needs a multi-billion-pound refurb
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‘Perhaps the Most Shameful Episode of the Pandemic’: £4 Billion of PPE to Go Up in Smoke
David Hencke has the details of a new parliamentary report showing how masses of equipment bought by the Government is set for the incinerator
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Johnson’s Culture War Against Judges Having a ‘Chilling Effect’ on Rule of Law, Warns Parliamentary Report
Leading MPs and peers express their concerns about the Government’s attacks on the independent judiciary, reports David Hencke
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UK Regulators ‘Fumbling in Dark’ After Brexit, Report Finds
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee raises serious concerns around recruitment and information sharing at three of the country’s key watchdogs
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Fraud, Abuse, Waste, Chaos: Official Report Slams Management of UK Borders during Pandemic
David Hencke reports on a damning National Audit Office analysis of the multiple failures of Boris Johnson’s Global Travel Taskforce
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‘Government Risks Damaging Democracy for Generations to Come’, Warns New Report on Citizenship Education
Citizenship should be redefined to promote a more positive form of it and should not be linked with opposing extremism, according to peers
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Government Only Took Minutes in Two Out of Eight Randox Meetings, New Watchdog Report Reveals
The National Audit Office points out significant transparency holes in the Government’s approach to the healthcare giant Randox, that won COVID contracts worth hundreds of millions
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Failings in Key Army Contract Hits UK’s Ability to Fight a Modern War
David Hencke reports on a major impasse in the delivery of new armoured vehicles to the British Army
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Government’s Climate Policy Chaos Exposed by Two New Reports
The UK’s net zero ambitions are stalling under the Conservative Party’s leadership, reports David Hencke
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Watchdog Raises Concerns Over UK Defence Spending Plans
As war in Europe looms, David Hencke reports on the Government’s controversial attempt to modernise our defence equipment
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Damning Report Suggests Government is Soft on COVID Fraud
A committee of MPs has found that HMRC is failing to deal with an ‘avalanche’ of fraud by businesses during the pandemic, reports David Hencke
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Police’s Privileged Treatment of Government Confirms It’s One Rule for Them, Another for the Rest of Us
David Hencke, who sat on the Gosport War Memorial Hospital inquiry, explores why Dame Cressida Dick’s decision to redact large parts of the Sue Gray report is such a departure from the norm
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Sajid Javid Signs Off £1 Billion Private Health Windfall as MPs Sound Alarm
The Health and Social Care Secretary has agreed an ‘insurance policy’ with private providers, in breach of Treasury spending guidelines, reports David Hencke
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Building Back Botched
The Government’s housing and construction plans are failing to deliver the country’s housing needs, a new parliamentary report has found
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The Brexit Slump: UK-EU Trade Continues to Lag As New Regulations Loom
A new House of Lords report exposes the economic aftershocks of Brexit, highlights David Hencke
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Brexit Trade Deals Failing to Deliver a Dividend, Report Says
The reality of ‘Global Britain’ is failing to match the rhetoric, reports David Hencke
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Rattling the Money Tree: Government May Fail to Recover Billions in COVID Loans
The Government is inundated with fraud cases, a new report reveals. David Hencke has the details
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UK Government Denying Democracy and Ruling by Diktat, Senior Lords Say
David Hencke reports on two committees that condemn the shift of power away from Parliament to ministers through the use of ‘skeleton bills’ and statutory instruments
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The Great Rail Con: The Conservatives Have Betrayed Their Rail Promises for the Last Decade
David Hencke tracks the ways in which successive governments have watered-down their transport promises to the north and the midlands
