Network Rail owns most of Britain's 2507 stations and is responsible for their structural repair and renewal. It also operates and manages 17 large stations, known as managed stations. It leases the remainder, known as franchised stations, to 22 Train Operating Companies (TOCs) responsible for station maintenance, cleaning and operations. The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) sets minimum standards, including facilities and services required at franchised stations, monitors TOCs' compliance with requirements and helps fund stations' operation and improvement. In this report, NAO examines whether passengers are satisfied with station facilities and services and whether station requirements are being met, the barriers to station improvement and what is being done to overcome them. There has been a little improvement in passengers' satisfaction over recent years. National Passenger Survey data show that satisfaction increased from 59 per cent to 63 per cent between 1999 and 2005, but the greatest levels of dissatisfaction are with the more than 2000 small and medium-sized stations which are unstaffed, or staffed for only part of the day, and which have few facilities. But there is a gap between rising passenger expectations on the one hand, and value for money and what the government and the industry can afford to spend on the other. Funding constraints constitute the biggest barrier to further improvement. Having originally envisaged spending £225 million on new facilities at 980 stations in its Modern Facilities at Stations programme, the SRA shrank the programme to £25 million and 68 stations to match the amount of money the Department for Transport made available.

There are over 2000 railway stations in Britain which vary in age, size and passenger usage. Following on from a National Audit Office report (HCP 132, session 2005-06; ISBN 0102933227) published in July 2005, the report examines the quality of station facilities and services, barriers to station improvement and what is being done to overcome them. The report finds that insufficient attention has been given to the quality of stations over recent years, and little account has been taken of passengers' needs and priorities. Passengers are most concerned over issues of station upkeep, repair and personal safety, and passenger satisfaction remains low for medium sized and small stations. More than half of Britain's stations are not fully accessible to disabled people, whilst a third of larger stations in England and Wales are without waiting rooms and some without toilet facilities. The original franchises awarded on privatisation of the railways failed to put sufficient emphasis on improving station facilities, and the assessment of station quality has been left largely to station operators with little use made of financial penalties to drive up standards. The number of bodies involved in maintaining and improving stations has led to a fragmented approach, lacking overall leadership and strategic focus.

Personal passenger safety in railway Stations : Oral and written evidence, oral evidence taken on Wednesday 19 April 2006

Going for Gold : Transport for London's 2012 Olympic Games, third report of session 2005-06, Vol. 2: Oral and written Evidence

In 2004-05, approximately £837 million was spent in England on a range of national programmes to help address problems in schools that were failing or at risk of failing to provide an acceptable standard of education for their pupils, and five new academies were opened with an estimated total development cost of around £160 million. This NAO report focuses on two key issues: whether enough is being done to identify and support schools that show signs of deteriorating performance; and whether the measures being taken to address poor performance are effective to ensure continued improvement in 'recovered' schools. The effectiveness of national initiatives and local actions are assessed and examples of good practice from schools that have been successfully turned around are highlighted. Recommendations made include the need for: the DfES and local authorities to combine efforts to identify schools at risk and intervene before schools fail; schools to prioritise school leadership and to establish a positive culture centred on teaching and learning; and Ofsted to carry out more frequent inspections of vulnerable or poorly performing schools.

Drawing on 20 years of experience as Comptroller and Auditor General, and head of the United Kingdom National Audit Office, Public Sector Auditing: Is it Value for Money? is Sir John Bourn’s own account of the role and influence value for money auditing has in holding governments to account and in helping public bodies improve the ways in which they deliver services. Key features include: In-depth case studies from UK, US, Canada, China, India and Australia; Detailed analysis of complex areas of public expenditure such as health, education, privatisation, regulation, defence and IT; Examples of how auditing can promote positive outcomes rather than negative post mortems. This book is relevant for people working in both the public and private sectors, and should be essential reading for the staff of public sector audit institutions around the world, as well as commercial accountancy firms and students of accountancy, politics, economics and public management.

A strong skill base is an important element of a productive and sustainable economy. The Department for Education and Skills spends around £6.7 billion on skills training in England, with an additional £23.7 billion being spent by employers. Despite this expenditure there are still skill shortages and the UK has low productivity compared to rival economies. This report follows two others on the subject: 'Skills for life: improving adult literacy and numeracy' (ISBN 0102931631); and 'Securing strategic leadership in the learning and skills sector in England' (ISBN 010293689). It is based on direct research with employers on how they want publicly funded training to be improved and whether it represents value for money. It is divided into four sections that look at the need for: clear advice on the best training for staff; training that meets business needs; incentives for employers to do more training; and ways that employers can influences skills training.