Cleaning is too often the invisible service. But Belbclean has put an end to that, boosting staff and teachers' morale alike by transforming school cleaning in Belfast. Paul Gosling reports
Jo McCullagh goes where many others fear to tread docksides, lorry drivers' cafés and construction sites to hand out condoms, apples and safer sex literature. Her innovative efforts to...
Ken Hunter is a firefighter with a difference, as he also helps steer children and young offenders away from a life of car crime and arson. After 26 years in the fire service, he has just picked up...
As the election battle hots up for hearts and minds of 'hard-working families', contradictory messages are emerging about poverty and inequality. Who is telling the truth? The IPPR sifts through the...
Calls for a corporate manslaughter Act have intensified over the years after a series of man-made disasters. Now a draft Bill has been published that could make it much easier to prosecute public...
It is now only a week to the Public Servants of the Year Awards. With the general election campaign in full swing, this is an ideal time to recognise the remarkable work carried out by public...
The drive to slash public sector waste will not save enough to fund spending increases in the long term, the architect of the one of the government's major efficiency programmes has warned.
Social landlords are offering only qualified backing for Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's flagship scheme to extend home ownership, the National Housing Federation has warned.
Gordon Brown's Budget produced a shock with its commitment to create four merged inspectorates covering the public sector. But will this brave new world lead only to greater confusion and upheaval...
The NHS Confederation has called for payment by results to be introduced for accident and emergency care after MPs criticised casualty services this week.
Inmates at Britain's largest women's prison are continuing to live in unacceptably dirty conditions, facing serial infestations of pigeons, insects and mice, according to a stinging report from the...
British governments must rein in spending on pensions and health care over the next 30 years or the country's debt rating could be downgraded to 'junk' status, credit experts have warned.
NHS foundation trusts have been stuck in the middle of the government split between 'modernisers' and 'consolidators', unable to achieve true financial independence. So reform is urgently needed
Ofsted's first ever finance director tells Vivienne Russell about his drive to bring the standards that he has fostered in local government to the inspectorate
District councils in Northern Ireland could be reduced from 26 to seven and given new legal powers under proposals published by the Review of Public Administration.
The trouble with most reviews and inquiries is that as soon as they report, their recommendations get farmed out and either float off or sink. Sir Michael Bichard bucked the trend by coming back to...
The MRSA superbug has struck fear into the hearts of hospital patients throughout the UK. But now, with an election expected, the government claims the health service is winning its battle against...
Housing will face an extremely tough Spending Review in 2006 unless it gets into the habit of making year-on-year efficiency gains, Simon Ridley, head of housing at the Treasury, told the National...
