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...
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...
The Lyons report suggested a number of ways forward for local government finance. From abolishing capping to localising the business rate, councils must be prepared to seize the initiative and the...
It's the public services, stupid. As Ireland's voters prepare for a general election, the focus is on problems in the country's huge state sector. The rival parties all have their own solutions,...
Rationing of NHS services is 'inevitable' and with us now, but in future it must be done in a more systematic, transparent and equitable way, the BMA declared this week.
The government's initial response to Sir Michael Lyons' report might have seemed muted, but the small print tells a different story. Ministers have not only accepted the core thesis, they have taken...
In the end, 'Super Thursday' wasn't meltdown for New Labour but neither was it a springboard for success. Tony Travers looks at the party's prospects after the local, Scottish and Welsh elections...
The new chief executive of London Councils will be watching out not only for his members but for the capital's less affluent citizens, too, he tells Vivienne Russell
Payment by results is here to stay. But now ministers are consulting on the best way to 'unbundle' the tariff-based system. Noel Plumridge braves the details
Despite reports to the contrary, ministers are supportive of many of the recommendations made by Sir Michael Lyons. In fact, his major report will be informing public policy for many years to come
Personalisation is the latest buzzword in the government's public service policy review. But putting the focus on the customer as user rather than as a taxpayer just sidesteps many of the difficult...
England's local authorities lack the expertise to implement crucial government reforms, cannot retain high-quality staff and do not reward employees according to their ability to perform their jobs,...
In the second of Public Finance 's series of 'After Lyons' articles, the Conservatives' shadow local government minister argues for a pragmatic pick 'n mix approach to Sir Michael's conclusions
The Department of Health's controversial National Programme for IT risks setting back the NHS's information system for years and has no back-up plan if it fails, the Commons Public Accounts Committee...
Doctors and insurance firms in Germany are up in arms over the 'NHS-lite' health reforms introduced on April 1. Greg Bousfield looks at the problems with the existing system and explains why...
Local government faces an uncertain future. The Lyons' report has been largely rejected by ministers, there is the prospect of a messy reorganisation, and local partnerships are failing to get off...
CIPFA will be hosting an event at its Mansell Street offices on 3 November to mark 40 years since the publication of the Layfield report into local government finance, including contributions from...
One of Gordon Brown's first moves as chancellor was to outsource responsibility for interest rates to the Monetary Policy Committee. So should he go further and create an independent body to oversee...
Regardless of press speculation, the Lyons report has not been consigned to the dustbin. In fact, it kickstarts the debate on reform, focusing first on the short-term decisions that ministers must...
The social services inspectorate has listed 21 systematic failures to protect the most vulnerable children and warned that these might 'get lost' as responsibility for inspection is passed to Ofsted.
Sir Michael Lyons and ministers this week united in an upbeat defence of local government reform in the face of widespread disappointment from town hall leaders, who fear many of Lyons' major...
Politicians suffer from myopia and tunnel vision they look only to the short term and take a blinkered view of the issue in hand. This is a sentiment with which many people would agree.
The latest strategy to get NHS waiting lists down is 24 hours a day surgery. But critics say it might endanger patient welfare, and boosting resources elsewhere would be more effective. Noel...
Benefits need to be made available for all disabled children and taken up by more families if the government is to eradicate child poverty by 2020, a leading think-tank has warned.
