-
26 Sep 02
Ken Livingstone has warned that reforms to council funding formulas could cut almost 10% of London's fire service budget.
-
19 Sep 02
Over the past year public services have become by default a key issue for the Liberal Democrats. Internal rows and specialist groups have dominated its policy-making.
-
12 Sep 02
The head of corporate performance at the London Borough of Ealing has criticised the government for its inability to 'join up and join in' and for the contradictory messages sent out by the various...
-
12 Sep 02
The chair of the Local Government Association has urged local authorities to make their voices heard in the debate over the future of public services.
-
22 Aug 02
Members judged responsible for their authority's failures could be stripped of decision-making powers and replaced by 'partnership boards' under government plans to deal with poorly performing...
-
8 Aug 02
The 4Ps, the agency set up to help local authorities deliver public-private partnerships, is to expand into all avenues of procurement under a new executive director, it was announced this week.
-
8 Aug 02
Moves to make it easier for housing departments to set up Private Finance Initiative schemes have been announced by the government.
-
1 Aug 02
The Department of Health will introduce a simplified bidding system for central funding next year as part of its drive to reduce hospital red tape.
-
25 Jul 02
MPs have slated the government for reneging on its promise to liberate councils from Whitehall control and demanded a 'major reappraisal' of the draft bill intended to deliver new freedoms.
-
18 Jul 02
Nick Raynsford has revealed a talent for nifty conjuring tricks in his proposals for reforming the notoriously complex Standard Spending Assessment, the method by which authorities receive their...
-
18 Jul 02
The Spending Review has confirmed what many expected: large increases in resources for many public services. The Budget had already told us how far the overall spending envelope would grow, and laid...
-
11 Jul 02
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy has declared his support for a dedicated health tax and called for the NHS to be run by local politicians.
-
11 Jul 02
MPs have branded Sport England's handling of the Wembley national stadium fiasco as 'slack, slovenly and supine'.
-
11 Jul 02
Union leaders have branded as a 'disgrace' Tony Blair's refusal to intervene in the local government pay dispute as the first national strike by council workers in 23 years looms next week.
-
11 Jul 02
County councils could lose up to £800m as a result of proposed reforms to the distribution of the Standard Spending Assessment unveiled by the government on July 5.
-
11 Jul 02
Dan Corry, the former special adviser to local government secretary Stephen Byers, is to take over as executive director of the New Local Government Network.
-
11 Jul 02
Relations between central and local government need to be radically transformed and much of Whitehall's power relinquished to town halls, Iain Duncan Smith has told local government leaders.
-
4 Jul 02
Local government leaders' patience finally snapped this week as they hit out at ministers for forcing through the Comprehensive Performance Assessment regime without delivering the extra freedoms...
-
4 Jul 02
The institution that acts as a public sector 'bank' this week relocated to the City.
-
4 Jul 02
Chancellors are seen as the Ebenezer Scrooges of the public sector or so you would think, says David Harding.
-
27 Jun 02
Directly elected mayors edged closer to the political dustbin this week after a government U-turn gave councils traditionally opposed to the policy the final decision on holding mayoral...
-
27 Jun 02
Labour's flagship housing policy of providing affordable properties for public sector workers is backfiring at a time when the shortfall has reached 'crisis point', MPs were told this week.
-
27 Jun 02
'We're doing our bit, the Audit Commission is doing its bit, now you do your bit,' is the message that will be sent to ministers from the Local Government Association conference next week.
-
20 Jun 02
There may have been relief when the draft Local Government Bill published with requisite fanfare by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott last week finally emerged.
-
13 Jun 02
An influential Labour backbencher this week claimed that the government is unlikely to grant substantial autonomy to local authorities, despite acknowledging that it must help councils improve...