Increased fiscal devolution to cities is a ‘necessity’ to boost the growth rate of the UK, a leading economist examining plans to increase the powers of municipalities has told Public...
A report on the future of Scottish local government has dismissed claims that the country has too many councils and has called for the nation’s 32 unitary authorities to be given more powers
The government’s abolition of support payments to employers who have to pay out a large proportion of their wage bill on sick pay will make it harder to meet Chancellor George Osborne’s target for...
Councils will need to sign a pledge setting out how many potholes they will fix over the next year to qualify for money from a new Whitehall road-repair fund, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin...
Chancellor George Osborne’s pension reforms will bring in a short-term boost for the public finances but have been criticised for a lack of consultation and long-term modelling of their impact.
The government agency announced by George Osborne to lead the creation of a garden city at Ebbsfleet in Kent must be given a ‘blank sheet of paper’ free from council planning agreements, the chair of...
Public sector pension contribution increases announced in last week’s Budget will hit services and hinder attempts to expand provision by private firms and charities, the government has been warned.
The chancellor's pensions revolution is a disastrous mistake. Millions of pensioners will suffer lower retirement incomes as a result of the Budget announcement, and it could have huge unforeseen...
Many of the eye-catching measures in the Budget on pensions and ISAs will do little to tackle underlying growth and productivity issues. They continue a pattern of short-termist thinking by the...
Welsh finance minister Jane Hutt has criticised Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget, saying it was full of missed opportunities and would do nothing for economic growth in Wales.
Chancellor George Osborne used his Budget to unveil a host of ‘radical’ tax reforms to help pensioners and savers who have to been hit by low interest rates
Welfare spending across 26 benefits, including elements of the Universal Credit, is to be capped at £119.5bn from 2015/16, Chancellor George Osborne has announced
The size of the UK economy is set to return to its pre-recession level this year, Chancellor George Osborne said today as he set out latest Office for Budget Responsibility growth forecasts
The expected announcement by the chancellor in today's Budget on extra support for childcare costs is welcome. But we must not lose sight of the quality issues
Ministers have announced an increase in the amount of money that the government will provide to subsidise childcare as part of Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget
Any additional cuts to local government funding announced in next week’s Budget would compromise the ability of local government to boost economic growth, counties have warned
The chair of the Public Accounts Committee has pledged that MPs will ‘have a real go’ at maintaining scrutiny of council services following the abolition of the Audit Commission
The chancellor will use the Budget to reinforce the prime minister’s recovery message to the World Economic Forum at Davos. But rising house prices and consumption threaten to suck in imports, while...
