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...
Nine out of ten universities intend to charge tuition fees at the highest possible rate of £3,000 a year but they insist that poorer students will be supported with a generous package of bursaries.
They've worked wonders in Canada and the US, and now they're over here to do the same. Nick Raynsford explains how local firms can use Business Improvement Districts to help transform their town...
The Freedom of Information Act brings greater transparency about public sector spending and decision-making. But there are some grey areas, such as internal audit and fraud investigations, where...
Ealing council was improving by leaps and bounds, the Audit Commission itself said so. So when its 'good' assessment was downgraded to 'weak', the London borough went to court and won
Unpublished research by the Conservative party has found that rural and smaller primary schools are resorting to 'drastic measures' to meet the national workload agreement, Tim Collins has told...
Gordon Brown heralded root-and-branch reforms to the regulation of public services as he used his Budget statement to announce plans to slash the number of inspectorates from 11 to four.
The record equal pay settlement at North Cumbria Acute NHS Trust is 'unlikely to be replicated elsewhere', employers have warned, despite Unison this week gearing up for the prospect of similar...
Doctors have warned that limits must be set on the health service's use of the private sector, putting them in direct opposition to both Labour and the Conservatives.
A major report into the financial health of the NHS by two senior government watchdogs might be held back until after the general election, it emerged this week.
Private developers and other bodies that get the go-ahead to join a £200m social housing programme will automatically be permitted to compete with registered social landlords for larger grants later...
Some terminally ill patients are receiving inadequate care because of limited resources, lack of staff and weak relationships between professionals, according to the King's Fund.
As the political parties compete for the most radical cuts to red tape before the election, they are turning their magnifying glasses on to regulation and inspection. While a pruning is overdue, it...
The shadow chief secretary to the Treasury is unafraid to speak of huge Whitehall cuts in his plan for better public services. Joseph McHugh heard his battle strategy
Is our system of government in terminal decline, obsessed by spin and central control? Sir Christopher Foster, a former adviser to both Labour and Tory ministers, thinks so. He uses privatisation of...
Scottish patients have the UK's shortest waiting times for the diagnosis and treatment of coronary heart disease, according to the latest government statistics.
It is 25 years since the 1980s political satire, Yes, Minister, first hit our screens. But its portrayal of the senior civil service's success in resisting ministerial reforms is probably even more...
Beefing up city and county regions might paradoxically be the most effective way of putting the local into 'new localism' in the twenty-first century, argues Gerry Stoker
If the forthcoming social care green paper avoids spelling out the cost of long-term care for older people, Sir Derek Wanless's review is likely to be less coy, argues Paul Gosling
The way public services are contracted and delivered could be transformed if an innovative funding model is rolled out across the country, charities minister Fiona Mactaggart said this week.
