News - July 2011

Efforts to boost university access 'should start at primary school'Primary school pupils should be given career advice and encouraged to plan for university, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes has recommended. 21 July 2011
Auditors slam failed fire and rescue planThe project to replace England's 46 local fire and rescue service control rooms with nine regional inter-linked centres was branded a 'comprehensive failure' by auditors today. 01 July 2011
Edinburgh to go ahead with airport tram linkEdinburgh councillors have decided against pulling the plug on the city's beleaguered tramline project, but must now raise more than £200m extra to finish it. 01 July 2011
Councillors curtail Edinburgh tram project as costs riseThe fiasco of Edinburgh's new trams has plumbed fresh depths of chaos, after city councillors unexpectedly reversed a previous decision and voted to terminate the one line that survives from the originally planned network well short of the city centre. 26 August 2011
Government is scrapping controls on councils, Pickles claimsEric Pickles has told the Local Government Association that the government is 'dismantling the command and control structure of Whitehall'. 01 July 2011
Audit Commission says its abolition risks higher fees and loss of public confidenceAudit fees are likely to increase and public confidence in the management of public money could be shaken following the abolition of the Audit Commission, the commission itself has warned 01 July 2011
Helping the PAC to 'follow the pound'Being the first elected chair of the Public Accounts Committee gives Margaret Hodge enhanced authority. But transforming the public sector into an efficient provider of public services is still a big ask, she tells PF in an exclusive interview 04 July 2011
Prevention is better than cure, says child deprivation reviewMore public funding should be focused on children from deprived backgrounds to prevent costly social problems later on, according to a government commissioned review published today. 04 July 2011
Barnet runs into outsourcing snagsThe London Borough of Barnet's deputy chief executive has told PF his authority will tackle the bad procurement practices highlighted embarrassingly on the day the council issued one of the largest tenders seen in local government. 04 July 2011
Dilnot caps care contributions in wide-ranging review No one should be required to spend more than £35,000 of their personal assets on care in their old age, according to proposed reforms published today. 04 July 2011
Audit Commission's audit practice must be stand-alone company, say MPsMPs today asked the government to help the Audit Commission's audit practice establish itself as a stand-alone company and compete in the public sector audit market. 07 July 2011
PAC concerned by lack of detail in government's IT strategy The Public Accounts Committee has 'serious concerns' about the government's new IT strategy, the cross-party group of MPs said today. 05 July 2011
English council spending fallsLocal authority spending in England has fallen for the first time since the introduction of the council tax in the early 1990s, according to figures published by the government and CIPFA today. 05 July 2011
Almos call for borrowing powersArm's-length management organisations have called for borrowing powers to allow them to fund housing improvement programmes. 05 July 2011
MoD slated for poor accounts and stock controlMPs have slammed the Ministry of Defence for losing track of more than £6bn of military assets and having its accounts qualified for the fourth successive year. 05 July 2011