It's been a challenging week for Team Gordon, as the new PM and his Cabinet strive to show who's in charge. Peter Riddell assesses what all the ministerial changes mean
Public bodies must slash the time it takes to provide services if the government is to become more responsive to citizens' needs, a minister admitted this week.
The new prime minister is an intellectual heavyweight, with strong views of his own on public policy. So where does this leave Britain's burgeoning think-tank industry? Peter Wilby reports on the...
Combating climate change is a colossal global challenge. But you have got to start somewhere. The LGIU's carbon trading scheme for councils points a way forward, as David Janner-Klausner explains
Voluntary sector organisations are still not on a level playing field with other public service providers, despite central government's efforts, auditors said last week.
Migrant workers contribute more to the British economy than the costs of the public services they receive, according to a study by the Trades Union Congress.
Public sector regulators should promote a 'culture of curiosity' among service providers, the Audit Commission's chair, Michael O'Higgins, told delegates.
Computer glitches have been blamed for a substantial drop in council tax collection in 23 local authorities, leading to a loss of more than £26m from town hall budgets last year, Public Finance has...
The Local Government Association has published a 'prospectus' outlining what every high-performing council should be doing and detailing areas where more work is needed.
The public sector's experience of reorganisation is that it is never-ending and often unsuccessful. But it doesn't have to be that way, provided its leaders are willing to learn lessons from the...
Former chancellor Kenneth Clarke has stood for the Tory leadership three times but his failure has not dampened his political activism, he tells Joseph McHugh
The need to base public service reforms on market disciplines has been an uphill battle for the Labour government. But there really is no practicable alternative, argues Anthony Browne
Is New Labour's modernisation agenda for public services anywhere near endgame? Tony Travers surveys the progress so far and asks whether a Brown government should slow down or speed up the pace of...
Public service reform will grind to a halt under Gordon Brown's premiership as the Labour party lurches to the Left, shadow chancellor George Osborne argued in a speech this week.
Trade unions have hailed as 'long overdue' the government's announcement that it is to draw up a consistent pay and conditions framework for the support staff working in England's schools.
A major rethink is needed on the government's reform programme. Central to that is the concept of 'public value' and new ways of getting public sector workers on board. Brendan Barber outlines a...
Ahead of taking up the premiership, Gordon Brown has promised a redistribution of power down from central to local government. Is this just fantasy politics or will the new PM deliver the goods?
The recent UK-wide elections have highlighted the fact that there is not one NHS but four. Noel Plumridge examines what binds the different health services and what sets them apart
Half a million people will need to be transported each day to the 2012 Olympics in London. But so far only £350m is being invested in expanding the capital's transport infrastructure. Christian...
Town hall leaders this week gave a cautious welcome to the government's controversial plan to refer national infrastructure planning decisions to an independent commission.
Local authorities will soon be asked to help Whitehall meet its strict child poverty targets as part of the government's ambitious plan to eradicate the problem by 2020.
Central government is planning a drive to expand the amount of social housing. So where will this leave traditional housing associations? Caroline Shah looks at one option transferring the entire...
Most of the UK's public sector finance managers have spent at least a year working in a private sector environment and the two are increasingly trading top staff, research has found.
Premier-in-waiting Gordon Brown has promised a big shift in 'the way we govern'. So what will this mean in practice for the public sector? James Blitz predicts less spin and more focus on domestic...
