Chancellor George Osborne has committed the government to a goal of full employment and said job creation would now form a central plank of the coalition’s economic plan.
It is likely that significant amounts of tax are lost through abuse of the current system of government tax breaks, the National Audit Office has warned today.
Higher education teaching grants have been cut by a further 6% in cash terms it was revealed today as details of the funding settlement for England’s universities and colleges were confirmed.
The Department for Work and Pensions has terminated its contract with private firm Atos to undertake controversial fit-for-work assessments of people receiving incapacity benefits.
County councils have welcomed the government’s decision to bring forward an extension to the Troubled Families Programme in the Budget, and said the scheme could be used to expand pooled funding to...
The Treasury has today raised £4.2bn from selling part of the taxpayer’s stake in Lloyds Banking Group, taking the government holding in the firm that was bailed out during the 2008 financial crisis...
Public sector pension contribution increases announced in last week’s Budget will hit services and hinder attempts to expand provision by private firms and charities, the government has been warned.
The government is still to make clear how it will implement planned cuts to public spending, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said in its analysis of the Budget
Chancellor George Osborne used his Budget to unveil a host of ‘radical’ tax reforms to help pensioners and savers who have to been hit by low interest rates
Welfare spending across 26 benefits, including elements of the Universal Credit, is to be capped at £119.5bn from 2015/16, Chancellor George Osborne has announced
The number of people employed in the public sector fell by 159,000 to 5.5 million in the last three months of 2013 following the reclassification of the Royal Mail after privatisation, the Office for...
One-third of all young people will either be out of work or trapped in underemployment by 2018 based on current trends, the Local Government Association has warned.
There should be a ‘presumption of openness’ on the publication of public data and government needs to devise ways to maximise its economic potential, MPs have said.
The chair of the government company planning the construction of the High Speed 2 rail link has called on ministers to speed up the building timetable to spread the benefits of the line across the...
Many of the school inspectors used by education watchdog Ofsted lack the skills and experience to do the job effectively now the government has given greater independence to schools, a think-tank has...
The Office for Budget Responsibility should be given the power to vary VAT, income and corporate tax rates to ensure the sustainability of the public finances, the think-tank Reform said today.
Outsourcing by government departments risks creating ‘a shadow state’ where public spending is not transparent, and reforms are needed to increase accountability, the Public Accounts Committee has...
Public sector employers will need to increase the amount they pay into occupational pension schemes, as current levels are insufficient to meet the future costs, the Treasury has announced.
The government’s £2.4bn auction of 4G mobile phone licences last February was within the range of the money raised in other European countries, despite failing to meet a Treasury target, the National...
The Treasury has levied more than £500,000 in fines against two Whitehall departments following breaches of government rules on the use of off-payroll contractors
Cuts of 20% to police funding were among the deepest austerity measures and the election of PCCs was highly controversial. So why are the reforms hailed as a success?
It is not yet possible to say whether the government’s Help to Buy equity loans, designed to improve access to mortgage finance, will provide taxpayers with value for money, the National Audit Office...
The chancellor will use the Budget to reinforce the prime minister’s recovery message to the World Economic Forum at Davos. But rising house prices and consumption threaten to suck in imports, while...
