David Miliband has defended the government's widespread use of targets in its drive to improve local services but has pledged to scrap those that are hindering rather than helping progress.
NHS staff who gain unauthorised access to patients' electronic records could be sacked, face criminal charges or be fined thousands of pounds, the Department of Health said this week.
The general election brought home to the government the country's desire for a return to local democracy. The LGA calls for this to be made a reality and its chair, Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart,...
Council leaders met ministers in the new government for the first time this week just one day after a far-reaching programme of legislation was laid out in the Queen's Speech.
The prime minister has retained some familiar faces as the next phase of public sector reform gets under way. This will tackle pensions, choice and private provision. Karen Day assesses the tasks...
Labour's first two terms saw local government marginalised and under ever greater central control. So how can new minister David Miliband improve the central/local relationship? George Jones and John...
Labour must make strenuous efforts during its third term in office to deliver a much better return on the extra billions of pounds being invested in public services, Local Government Association...
Proposals to move hundreds of civil service staff out of the Southeast to Wales contradict the government's efficiency agenda and its aim of protecting local economies, Whitehall's largest union has...
Cost savings are the most readily identifiable outcome of government efficiency drives. But, as Craig Baker and Patrick Lord point out, it is vital to find ways in which to track equally important...
It's not just politicians who have a problem with trust. There's also declining confidence in public services. Alex Klaushofer asks whether reputation management is the answer
Public bodies' use of private management consultants continued to expand rapidly in 2004, with payments to external advisers reaching £1.9bn, according to a new study.
Head teachers must end their war with the government over the 'workload agreement', the outgoing head of the National Association of Head Teachers warned this week.
Politicians have been doing battle over the need for public sector efficiency savings. But councils are already teaming up with their neighbours and other public bodies to make major economies of...
Whatever the election outcome, the fate of the deputy prime minister's department hangs in the balance. Peter Hetherington predicts some delicate times ahead for the office running Whitehall-town...
Councils have to play a central part in the next government's delivery agenda but need to prove that they are up to the challenge, the chair of the Local Government Association said this week.
Private and voluntary bodies could deliver almost a fifth of all public services by 2007, boosted by massive outsourcing plans across the defence, education and health sectors.
How do you turn government scientists' ideas into commercial reality? Clik Knowledge Transfer is showing the way whether for better airport security or new cholesterol tests. Neil Merrick explains
Debbie Coulter, the current deputy general secretary of the GMB, is likely to succeed Kevin Curran, who stood down as leader of the general union last week.
Local government pensions are in a mess. A £30bn shortfall in retirement assets across town halls in England and Wales, revealed in a CIPFA study last week, is bad news enough.
As the 2005 election's battle of the budgets hots up with accusations of tax and spend black holes flying to and fro Tony Travers asks whether it's still the economy that will determine the...
A fight has broken out in schools but the pupils are not to blame. Heads claim that they can't afford both the workload agreement and pay reforms. Teachers say this is just an excuse. Conor Ryan...
