An 'alternative Lyons inquiry' to examine the next phase of local government modernisation and its implications for councils' finances and functions is to be launched by an influential think-tank.
Controversial proposals to overhaul the probation service by opening it up to competition met with fierce criticism this week from employers and unions alike.
The creation of 'super-councils' to run all public services is among radical options being considered by the Scottish Executive's review of governance.
Sunday is a day of rest and dread if you run a public body. For, come Monday, you know you have to run a gauntlet of inspectors, auditors, MPs and others who all have something to say about your...
It's the biggest shake-up in social care for 30 years, with seamless children's services at its core. But already boundary disputes and rows about funding are spoiling the party
Becoming more efficient isn't an end in itself for local authorities. By improving the way they do things, councils can concentrate more on their main job managing resources and services in the...
A future Conservative government should match Margaret Thatcher's 'enterprise revolution' in industry, with a 'social enterprise revolution' in the public services, shadow health secretary Andrew...
Scottish local authorities have called on the Executive to provide additional funding to cope with the 'massive' financial implications of its flagship law and order Bill.
The public sector could employ an additional 5,700 doctors, 12,800 nurses or 9,100 police officers annually with the money it loses through two forms of benefit fraud.
The health service can afford pay rises of no more than 2.5% next year, NHS Employers said this week as concern grew over NHS organisations' ability to balance their books.
At first sight, the plan to cut down the public sector inspectorates from 11 to four seems sensible. But a closer look shows there is method in the seeming madness of the current messy, overlapping...
The council tax issue is not going to go away, says Tony Travers. The government might have postponed the revaluation but this won't stop the annual rises and accompanying protests. It's time to take...
Scottish Finance Minister Tom McCabe this week launched a counter-attack against the wave of criticism of the Executive's £1.2bn efficient government initiative.
New Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell has chosen a local government expert to lead the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and promoted a specialist to manage the Northern Ireland Office.
As the Conservatives gear up for their Blackpool conference next week, they face their most important leadership contest in more than 40 years. Philip Johnston analyses the policies behind the beauty...
There will be no 'fourth option' for funding improvements to housing stock and councils must use private money to achieve the decent homes standard, David Miliband was due to warn delegates in...
Hazel Blears has emerged as Home Secretary Charles Clarke's choice to chair the commission set up to investigate the way that Muslim and other faith communities integrate into British society.
Senior local government figures queued up to criticise the government this week after David Miliband announced that the council tax revaluation exercise was being shelved and the Lyons funding...
The Liberal Democrat leadership this week called on members to support a bold range of new policy proposals designed to give the party a real chance of electoral success by the end of the decade.
Public bodies, such as NHS trusts and colleges, are now eligible to defer payment of millions of pounds in VAT, following a European Court of Justice ruling.
The architect of Whitehall's £40bn savings plan believes ministers will seek to achieve public sector efficiencies beyond the target date of 2008 because of the political imperative to restrain...