I think I feel a primary care shake-up coming on. The government is finally turning its attention from hospitals to family doctor services, says Noel Plumridge. Its mission? To bring back patient-...
David Blunkett has signalled his scepticism over claims by a number of organisations that the bedrock of a reformed pensions system should be more generous and non-means tested state provision.
Successive governments have been too eager to hold on to power at the expense of local communities, the new minister in charge told the Local Government Association conference in Harrogate.
Most of the NHS foundation hospitals have begun to use their new powers to borrow and invest, and are financially sound. But government policy on the next steps in their development needs to be...
Some local authorities have still not introduced any procedures to prevent money laundering, although they have been legally required to do so for more than a year. It's time they woke up to the...
Councils are unable to keep pace with the demands placed on their social care services despite their best efforts, local government leaders warned this week.
The UK is unusual in having virtually no legislative control over central government reorganisations. Proponents of this state of affairs point to its flexibility, but it can also lead to flawed...
The new benefits minister is intent on reforms that will raise the employment rate, overhaul housing allowances and fix the DWP's IT systems. Mark Conrad reports
Post-election, with a minister in the Cabinet and a vociferous council leader on their side, local authorities believe their time has finally come. But will new localism's dynamic duo succeed in...
The government's push to improve neighbourhoods will not be carried out at the expense of councils, local government minister Phil Woolas claimed this week.
Sir Andrew Turnbull has warned senior civil servants to avoid implementing key IT projects at the same time, to improve the way that Whitehall handles major public service reforms.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull this week outlined Whitehall's latest campaign to improve civil service performance, relaunching a national academy that will train mandarins in the art of...
Mental health provision will have to be drastically changed over the next 20 years to reflect the issue's growing importance, a think-tank has claimed.
Lin Homer, chief executive of Birmingham City Council, will quit her post to take on the tough task of leading the Home Office's Immigration and Nationality Directorate later this year.
Local authorities are lagging behind the rest of the public sector in their willingness to embrace change and develop new ways of working, the director general of the CBI said this week.
Everyone from the Lonely Planet tourist guides to think-tank boffins agree that Britain's city centres now beat anything on offer in Europe. What is responsible for this transformation, asks Will...
The government has pledged to help councils manage extra costs incurred by a decision to reverse reforms to the local government pension scheme, Public Finance has learned.
The government is in a flap about 'respect', or the lack of it as personified by gangs of feral youths wearing 'hoodies'. Is this a real problem or just society having one of its moral panics and,...
