The government's £1.1bn funding boost for local government, announced alongside the Pre-Budget Report, might have mollified council chiefs, but the goal of making high council tax rises 'a thing of...
It is just as well Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain did not expect a warm welcome for his November 22 announcement of a restructuring of the province's public sector based on the three-year...
The watchdogs in the energy and postal industries, Energywatch and Postwatch, have hit back after being branded 'feeble' by the Commons Public Accounts Committee in a report this week.
Government plans to replace Northern Ireland's 26 district councils with seven 'super-councils' have been attacked by local parties for reinforcing sectarian divisions.
The regeneration of the Thames Gateway presents a golden opportunity to rethink how public services are designed and funded, local government and communities minister David Miliband said this week.
In the 1990s, housing associations were rushing to form themselves into groups. Now the groups are queuing up to merge. Why are they doing it and is this the best way forward for housing, asks Neil...
Further education has been a 'forgotten middle child'. But now Sir Andrew Foster's wide-ranging review could give the £5bn sector a new mission to get the nation ready for work. Joseph McHugh asks...
Public sector organisations are racing ahead with outsourcing but all too often are dependent on just one or two suppliers. Paul Bentham says it's time to get a grip and inject a bit of...
A new hospital assessment tool, launched by the Department of Health this week, will be the catalyst for 'radical change' and possible service cuts, Public Finance has been told.
Choosing spending priorities involves some tough, painful and invariably unpopular decisions. Harrow decided to put its residents in the hot seat and invigorate democracy in the process. Maria McHale...
Rhodri Morgan is every bit as evangelical as Tony Blair when it comes to improving public services. But Wales is taking a very different route from Westminster. Steve Davies reports on public sector...
MPs have condemned as 'entirely unacceptable' the failure by ministers to ensure that the costs of future outbreaks of animal diseases such as foot and mouth are borne by industry instead of...
Councils will be able to track more accurately their success at reviving their local economies after a new set of performance indicators were launched this week.
As the Local Government Association in England locked horns with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister over the forthcoming financial settlement, Welsh councils have already been told how much...
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Des Browne has the unenviable task of matching public expenditure to delivery. In his first major interview, he tells Joseph McHugh how he is tackling the brief
Councils that demonstrate the most imagination will be best placed to take advantage of the government's new local regeneration funds, a Treasury minister said last week.
Further demanding targets for efficiency savings beyond the Gershon programme will be at the heart of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, the Cabinet minister masterminding it has told Public...
Partnerships between public sector organisations risk wasting money unless there is a clear sense of what they are hoping to achieve and who is in charge, the Audit Commission warned this week.
Most of the Revenue & Customs department's 100,000 staff are to receive pay rises of 3%-4% each year until 2008 under a new deal that will eradicate large wage disparities.
The London Borough of Merton was dreading the new-look CPA, which appeared to threaten all the improvements it had made. But it was pleasantly surprised when the final changes were revealed
Water companies' services are almost perfect, says the regulator. But with almost 4,000 million litres of water wasted through burst pipes and leakages every day, David Meilton begs to differ
