Over the past year public services have become by default a key issue for the Liberal Democrats. Internal rows and specialist groups have dominated its policy-making.
The head of corporate performance at the London Borough of Ealing has criticised the government for its inability to 'join up and join in' and for the contradictory messages sent out by the various...
Members judged responsible for their authority's failures could be stripped of decision-making powers and replaced by 'partnership boards' under government plans to deal with poorly performing...
The 4Ps, the agency set up to help local authorities deliver public-private partnerships, is to expand into all avenues of procurement under a new executive director, it was announced this week.
MPs have slated the government for reneging on its promise to liberate councils from Whitehall control and demanded a 'major reappraisal' of the draft bill intended to deliver new freedoms.
Nick Raynsford has revealed a talent for nifty conjuring tricks in his proposals for reforming the notoriously complex Standard Spending Assessment, the method by which authorities receive their...
The Spending Review has confirmed what many expected: large increases in resources for many public services. The Budget had already told us how far the overall spending envelope would grow, and laid...
Dan Corry, the former special adviser to local government secretary Stephen Byers, is to take over as executive director of the New Local Government Network.
Relations between central and local government need to be radically transformed and much of Whitehall's power relinquished to town halls, Iain Duncan Smith has told local government leaders.
Union leaders have branded as a 'disgrace' Tony Blair's refusal to intervene in the local government pay dispute as the first national strike by council workers in 23 years looms next week.
County councils could lose up to £800m as a result of proposed reforms to the distribution of the Standard Spending Assessment unveiled by the government on July 5.
Local government leaders' patience finally snapped this week as they hit out at ministers for forcing through the Comprehensive Performance Assessment regime without delivering the extra freedoms...
Directly elected mayors edged closer to the political dustbin this week after a government U-turn gave councils traditionally opposed to the policy the final decision on holding mayoral...
Labour's flagship housing policy of providing affordable properties for public sector workers is backfiring at a time when the shortfall has reached 'crisis point', MPs were told this week.
'We're doing our bit, the Audit Commission is doing its bit, now you do your bit,' is the message that will be sent to ministers from the Local Government Association conference next week.
There may have been relief when the draft Local Government Bill published with requisite fanfare by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott last week finally emerged.
An influential Labour backbencher this week claimed that the government is unlikely to grant substantial autonomy to local authorities, despite acknowledging that it must help councils improve...
Central government must give councils a 'level playing field' in how they finance capital projects and stop forcing them to use the Private Finance Initiative, according to an expert panel.