Tony Blair this week called for a wholesale renegotiation of the contract between the citizen and the state as he launched the next phase of his root-and-branch review of public policy.
The game is up for the Child Support Agency. But will its new replacement do a better job at collecting the missing billions of pounds in maintenance? Paul Gosling investigates
Public sector bodies look set to face new rules and responsibilities as part of the government's attempt to cut carbon emissions. Proposals now out for consultation offer both challenges and...
Spending on mental health care needs to rise by 50% in real terms if the government's ambitious policy framework is to be successfully implemented, campaigners are warning.
The social care inspectorate has called for an urgent national debate into whether or not the state should continue to provide preventative social care to disabled and frail adults.
Supporters say social enterprises marry private efficiency with public values, offering innovative low-cost, high-quality services. But a wider definition of value for money is needed to get the best...
Chancellor Gordon Brown will host eleventh-hour discussions aimed at preventing a national strike by civil servants later this month, Public Finance has learnt.
Happy New Year. If you are an adult with a disability you now have two years left to receive preventative social care that could stop your condition deteriorating further, the Local Government...
The Treasury-commissioned skills report is not radical enough in the solutions it offers to halt the crisis facing Britain, the Conservatives are warning.
Patients in some parts of England face longer waits for routine surgery as primary care trusts claw back deficits in the final three months of the financial year.
Well done to all of you who took part your comprehensive knowledge of the news is impressive. Particular congratulations to our winner Sue Alliott at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea,...
The main reason why so many big outsourcing contracts run aground is the lack of any sort of mechanism to solve disputes before they get out of hand, argues Mark Amsden. But there is a wealth of...
No sooner had Chancellor Gordon Brown finished adding up his promised £36bn investment in education over the next four years than the economists were asking the inevitable question: 'How much of that...
Business rates need to be brought urgently back under local government control, argues Paul Raynes. The current system is inefficient, keeps councils in bondage, involves huge, unnecessary financial...
The government's target is to halve the numbers of UK children living in poverty by 2010. But success rests on adequate funding, and campaigners doubt that enough money will be provided in next year'...
Your begin your first job in ignorant bliss of the pitfalls ahead, then continue to learn the hard way. But it doesn't have to be like this. Michael Ware reveals his need-to-know list
The troubled Child Support Agency will be swept away and replaced with a new body that will deliver simpler and more effective ways of collecting child maintenance, Work and Pensions Secretary John...
There must be no back-pedalling on reform as the health service seeks to recover financial balance, NHS chief executive David Nicholson told the Healthcare Financial Management Association annual...
Foundation trusts' financial performance in the first half of this year was better than expected, but they should be prepared for a tougher second six months, their regulator Monitor said this week.
Services for older people are 'teetering on the brink', Local Government Association chair Lord Sandy Bruce-Lockhart was due to tell the House of Lords on December 7.
