Local authorities are struggling to provide appropriate housing for vulnerable adults because of cuts in the Supporting People grant, the Commission for Social Care Inspection has found.
MPs have called for an overhaul of civil service skills at the Ministry of Defence, warning that a failure to develop commercial awareness could undermine the government's Defence Industrial Strategy...
Introducing a market into local health provision can in theory increase user 'choice'. But in practice the most likely result is that a few giant firms will end up running all the services in ever-...
As all the parties compete for a fresh image, the LibDems have taken a lead by appointing England's youngest MP as a top Treasury spokeswoman. Vivienne Russell talked to her
Nurses and pharmacists have hailed the dawn of a new era after the Department of Health confirmed they would be allowed to prescribe a wider range of drugs.
New arrangements for out-of-hours GP services have been condemned as 'shambolic' following a watchdog report that found lengthy waiting times and a 22% cost overrun.
A catalogue of central government failures strengthens the case for devolving more powers to local government. So why despite decades of official rhetoric and numerous inquiries is Whitehall so...
The chair of the Lyons Inquiry into Local Government says that there is now a consensus in favour of more decentralisation. But councils will have to raise their game to improve transparency and...
The past four decades have produced major technological, medical and engineering advances but have failed dismally to reform local government finance. Sarah Wood says this time there must be change...
As the axe falls on thousands of frontline NHS posts, the government faces a huge row over the impact on clinical care. Seamus Ward visits a health trust about to shed 1,200 posts and hears both...
Whatever government reform you look at, you'll find joint working is part of it. But councils planning to join up to share services need to ensure that by doing so they don't trigger EU procurement...
The current system for funding long-term care is 'inequitable, incoherent and financially unstable', a three-year research project by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has concluded.
The government has given the NHS and social care services five years to stamp out a pervasive negative culture of attitudes to older people which often results in poor quality care and neglect. But...
Free further education for 19 25-year-olds and a radical white paper suggest that the long-neglected college sector is finally getting its day in the sun. But what about the funding gap, asks...
The failure of List 99 to stop paedophiles working with children shocked parents and teachers and nearly did for the career of Education Secretary Ruth Kelly. Phil Revell asks whether the...
More than 1,700 low-paid female employees have won equal pay claims against Cumbria County Council. Estimates of the final payout range between £30m to £100m - substantially more than the £8m the...
Despite moves from the European Commission to water down its controversial services directive, concerns remain that it will still lead to the market liberalisation of some public services including...
The next Conservative government will not run public services 'from a desk in Whitehall' and will give frontline organisations the freedom to make decisions in response to local circumstances, Oliver...
Two deficit-ridden primary care trusts in Wiltshire have withdrawn up to £3m of social care funding from the local authority with just 14 hours' notice.
Patient Choice sounds great in theory, particularly when the likes of Julian Le Grand explain it. But we have to take care to avoid rushing into an untried and uncertain solution to the problems of...
Below-inflation staged pay awards. A new government committee to vet all deals. Is this an incomes policy in all but name? Alastair Hatchett explains why and how the Treasury is getting tough on...
