The Conservatives would scrap both Best Value and the Comprehensive Performance Assessment system for councils, but have reached no decision on what they would put in their place.
The newly elected senior executive of the Public and Commercial Services union is to meet next week to plan what it promises will be a 'hard-hitting and long-term campaign' to challenge the...
Local authorities will continue to play an important part in education despite government moves to give schools greater control over their finances, Education Secretary Charles Clarke insisted this...
Government plans to strip councils of most of their education responsibilities will rupture relations between Whitehall and county hall, the Local Government Association's new chair has warned.
The National Audit Office looks set to be the body to assess whether the planned multi-billion pound savings widely expected to be outlined in the imminent Gershon report are actually being achieved.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive put tenants' health and safety at risk and breached departmental rules in contracting for the installation of gas heating systems, according to auditor general...
The saga of Westminster's missing residents was drawing to a close this week as the Office for National Statistics prepared to admit that it had underestimated the authority's population by almost 10...
A national education funding quango would be a 'retrograde step' for the sector, which must retain local flexibilities in determining how schools receive and spend cash, according to the incoming...
A sign of a more aggressive Whitehall emerged this week with the Cabinet Office's summary dismissal of contractor ITnet after an £83m project looked in danger of becoming delayed and over-budget.
Thousands of public sector jobs in Scotland could be axed as part of an efficiency drive affecting civil servants, council staff and employees of public agencies.
Local plans to improve communities are being undermined by the myriad of confusing and complex funding streams, targets and new initiatives emerging from Whitehall, the Audit Commission has reported.
Ministers have given cautious approval to the Local Government Association's proposal to take over the Employers Organisation as a way of improving the handling of pay negotiations.
Patients' power to choose where and when they are treated will be expanded, no matter which party wins the next general election. Both Labour and the Conservatives put patient choice at the heart of...
More than a third of councils could face court action and fines unless they take steps to prepare for the impact of new equality legislation, the Disability Rights Commission has warned.
The government is to draw up a ten-year strategy for local government that will herald a 'new settlement' of the relationship between town halls and Whitehall.
The Local Government Association is to reform radically its member structure, replacing its 'static and old-fashioned' committees with cross-cutting boards in an attempt to widen its influence on...
Senior private sector figures have pointed the finger at government organisations and blamed them for refusing to make information on Private Finance Initiative deals available to the public.
The Audit Commission is piloting the creation of area profiles as a way of building a complete picture of frontline services and quality of life within a specific location.
Anti-mafia laws used in the US are to be copied in Northern Ireland to tackle extortion rackets in public sector building projects, the government has announced.
David James, the troubleshooter drafted in by the Conservative Party to identify possible Whitehall efficiency savings, is likely to make recommendations that would modify the way future Tory...
