A Labour backbench rebellion over the government’s plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail could take place against a background of strikes by London postal workers
Welfare -to-work experts, including the biggest potential private supplier of services, are concerned that some providers might underperform to the point where they need bailing out by government
A Commons committee has called on the government to adopt a ‘public health’ approach to knife crime, with early intervention, more education and more support for offenders
The Scottish Government is on track to cut the number of quangos by at least 25% and streamline the scrutiny of public bodies, Finance Secretary John Swinney has announced
About a third of further education colleges face serious financial problems after last year’s collapse of a flagship rebuilding programme, finance directors were warned this week
Treasury officials have assured MPs that £26.5bn savings made under the Gershon programme are ‘real’, but have said checks on the renewed efficiency drive would be ‘more rigorous’
The director general of the BBC has defended his record amid criticism from MPs that the organisation is spending too much on presenters and failing to measure value for money effectively
Former communities and local government secretary Hazel Blears has been praised for her commitment to community politics and public participation in decision-making
The Treasury's Operational Efficiency Programme reads like a Soviet five-year plan; and is probably about as achievable. Tony Travers wades through Whitehall's radical blueprint for public sector...
English councils should do more to track down the owners of empty homes as a first step towards bringing extra housing into use, the government has said
The Irish economy, feted by Alex Salmond, might end up needing IMF support packages and could be evicted from the eurozone. Now there is a concern that the effects will spread to Northern Ireland
Details have been announced for a £4bn funding framework to provide academy schools in areas in England not yet running a Building Schools for the Future scheme
The work and pensions select committee joined the chorus of concern about the government’s flagship Flexible New Deal programme as unemployment figures continue to grow
Health Secretary Alan Johnson has told MPs it is ‘inconceivable’ that the NHS will face real-terms spending cuts from 2011, when the government aims to restore the public finances after...
