Could the collapse of London Tube PPP consortium Metronet have been averted or is there something about this type of public-private deal that spells disaster? Christian Wolmar investigates
In the early days of New Labour, the Private Finance Initiative was seen as the only game in town for funding major public sector projects, but the Metronet crisis could mean the game is up, writes...
An intense focus on outcomes is essential if the public sector is to deliver real value, says Geoffrey Filkin. Here he argues that government can achieve better performance without committing extra...
Sure Start children's centres came under fire again this week after senior MPs criticised them for not doing enough to help the most disadvantaged families.
The Cabinet Office has ordered an urgent review of the UK's civil contingencies planning following a report on the Buncefield oil depot blast, which revealed widespread public confusion about...
The chief medical officer for England and Wales, Sir Liam Donaldson, has used his annual report to call for 'raided' public health funds to be restored.
It's time to step up the fight against global warming. Local government has been leading the way but now it must help an increasingly concerned public to do its bit. The best way is through...
A new level of ambition is needed if communities are to guarantee their viability in the low-carbon decades ahead. That's why we must find the next Chamberlains, Livingstones and Schwarzeneggers
Now that politicians have promoted sustainability from token policy pledge to manifesto must-have, Public Finance 's latest round table posed the question of how local authorities can save the...
Whitehall-set public service targets are to be slashed and councils given greater scope to boost regional economies, the Treasury said this week indications that the new government may be putting...
New Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has vowed to make 'localism and devolution' the watchwords of her tenure, she said in her first major speech since her appointment.
Public bodies are undermining Prime Minister Gordon Brown's efficiency drive by paying up to two-thirds above the market rate for equipment and services, a study of the sector's procurement habits...
New Health Secretary Alan Johnson is launching a much-needed charm offensive starting with a clinician-led NHS review. Seamus Ward assesses the chances of tackling the problems stacking up in his...
Sir Simon Milton, the new chair of the Local Government Association, believes that there are local solutions to a range of issues, from health to housing, and he is determined to fight for more...
Restrictions on local authority borrowing have been gradually eased but one dinosaur law remains, which covers council companies and similar entities. Now its turn for reform has come in a new Bill
Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced an immediate review of NHS recruitment procedures after it emerged that all the suspects in the terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow had links to the health...
Town halls could be forced to scrap some bus services from 2008 because they face a multimillion pound deficit under Whitehall plans to extend free travel for pensioners.
Newly appointed local government minister John Healey has pledged to forge a 'new relationship' between central and local government and to devolve extensive powers to regional and local levels.
Taking the politics out of the NHS sounds like an attractive idea. But an independent board would be bad for democracy and bad for our health, argue George Jones and John Stewart
