Rumours of the PFI's death have been greatly exaggerated. With its lengthy inflexible contracts and high annual costs, its days were looking numbered in an era of choice. But then Gordon Brown came...
Whitehall's Departmental Capability Reviews should take account of the experience and views of local government, according to a former council chief executive.
Government attempts to speed up planning decisions must not overlook the need for house building to keep pace with economic growth, social landlords said this week.
A top firm of accountants is being called in to examine the finances of Scottish Enterprise after the disclosure that the economic development agency has overspent by £30m.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats this week set out their stalls for the local elections on May 4 and immediately attacked one another's record in local government.
Councils hoping to set up an arm's-length management organisation or transfer their homes to a housing association will be able to submit bids following next month's local elections.
Primary school pupils could be measured against individual development targets under plans to boost social mobility being considered by the Cabinet Office, Public Finance has learnt.
A council that covers the biggest area of all Scottish local authorities has 'significant strengths', but needs to improve the corporate management of its decentralised structure, a public spending...
Town halls will need more money if they are to help the government achieve their ambitious carbon emission targets, local government leaders warned this week.
Scottish backbench councillors are to be paid a basic salary of £15,452 a year but leaders will receive less than that recommended by an independent committee.
Local government reforms are threatened by a 'demographic deficit' unless fresh talent is attracted into the sector, an influential think-tank is warning.
The local government pensions dispute remains in deadlock, despite emergency talks convened by the government this week following a one-day strike that disrupted council services across the UK.
Critics of choice in public services claim that ordinary people don't want it. Quite the opposite, argues Julian Le Grand it's the least well-off who stand to gain the most
Nurses and doctors from developing countries can no longer be poached by the NHS, but other richer nations do not have the same restrictions. Ministers Rosie Winterton and Gareth Thomas call for a...
Self-governing trust schools are New Labour's latest big idea for education. But confusion still reigns over their structure and how they will be governed in practice. Tash Shifrin investigates
Local authorities could start issuing more capital bonds as an alternative to central government borrowing or the Private Finance Initiative, according to credit rating agency Standard & Poor's.
A leading local authority has been told it cannot advertise employment training courses for deprived ethnic minority groups at Jobcentre Plus offices following a dispute over the Race Relations Act.
The Audit Commission has roundly condemned Bradford City Council's planned £1.2bn procurement of an asset management programme as 'failed', 'inadequate' and 'falling short' of the standards expected...
Police forces reacted with a mixture of delight and dismay after Home Secretary Charles Clarke set out merger plans for three more English regions this week.
Chancellor Gordon Brown this week injected further momentum into the government's devolution agenda but the tone emerging from Number 11 points towards a regionalist approach at the expense of...
