A shake-up of policing in London could be jeopardised because the funds it needs have been swallowed up by the extra costs arising from the terrorist attacks on July 7 and 21, Public Finance has...
New Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell has told local government leaders that he will be urging central government departments to allow local authorities more flexibility in the way they spend their...
A new dawn of co-operation between central and local government broke this week as Education Secretary Ruth Kelly indicated her willingness to work closely with councils on her planned education...
At least 19 private developers will be invited to make detailed bids for grant after reaching the Housing Corporation's short list of organisations hoping to build affordable homes during the next...
New Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell has indicated that he could tighten up Whitehall's decision-making to help restore trust in the machinery of government.
Current UK procurement rules were drawn up decades before the Internet existed and globalisation took off. Now draft regulations aim to bring these up to date and put a new EU directive into effect
As the TUC and government square up for their annual seaside contest, ministers face a movement riven with divisions and agonising about its future. Judy Hirst predicts tough times ahead for public...
It's difficult to see local government as the stuff of good theatre. But David Edgar's play uses infighting at a failing council to make some trenchant points about democracy. Joseph McHugh reports
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has asked local government pension funds to recalculate the disputed cost of revoking last April's increase in the scheme's retirement age to 65.
Finally, a hospital waiting time target that should genuinely help patients. But can the tough new plan to cut the time from GP referral to treatment to 18 weeks be achieved? Anthony Harrison and...
For all the talk of a dramatic urban renaissance, population flight from Britain's city centres to suburbia and the countryside continues apace. Tony Travers explains what needs to be done to reverse...
Sir Gus O'Donnell is soon to take over the Whitehall hot seat newly vacated by Sir Andrew Turnbull. Will he follow in his reforming steps or take a different path? Mark Conrad finds out
Civil servants this week urged the Cabinet Office to take swift action to correct problems with senior salaries that have distorted pay settlements for lower grade staff.
A democracy needs to be sure that the figures on which decisions are made are accurate and do not mask a hidden agenda. The Statistics Commission chair would like to see safeguards enshrined in law
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's review of the local government grant formula must take greater account of the extra cost of providing essential public services to far-flung rural...
The Office of Government Commerce's trading arm this week reported that it had made efficiency savings worth £321m on £2bn worth of procurement deals during 2004/05.
Sir Andrew Turnbull this week delivered his final speech as Cabinet secretary, calling for further Whitehall reforms and attacking critics who questioned civil service values under his stewardship.
You wouldn't know it, but the NHS Plan had its fifth birthday this week. There were no celebrations and ministers ignored the occasion. So what ever happened to this 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity...
Economists and opposition politicians are demanding that the government's fiscal policy be assessed by an independent body and based on statistics free from suspicion of political interference, after...
England's councils could exceed their £1.2bn efficiency target for 2005/06, according to a comprehensive study of 152 local authorities by IPF, the commercial arm of CIPFA.
London won the right to stage the 2012 Olympics on the strength of the legacy that it will leave behind for deprived areas such as east London. So will transport, housing and other facilities be...
