Plans for increased localism in public services do not provide the ‘necessary assurance on either probity or value for money’, the Public Accounts Committee said today.
The aim of the infrastructure code isn’t just to help councils finish their Whole of Government Accounts. It should also to help them manage their assets better
The International Monetary Fund has backed the UK government’s plans to link the state retirement age to increases in longevity, warning that the costs of an ageing population could ‘threaten the...
A £600m ‘Big Society’ fund was launched today by Prime Minister David Cameron to help charities and community groups expand and become more business-like.
Ministers talk the talk on local financial freedoms. But without the right to vary both taxation and service levels, town halls will remain at the mercy of Whitehall
The government has launched a ‘right to choose’ campaign as part of its proposals to open up public services to a wider range of providers. This could also lead to legislation enshrining greater...
The ten councils with the largest number of troubled families in England have agreed to join a government scheme that will pay them up to £4,000 for each problem household they help.
The economic benefit of building the UK’s only existing high-speed rail line will not be big enough to meet the cost of the project, it has been revealed today.
A series of ‘predictable flaws’ in the immigration system for students allowed as many as 50,000 people from outside Europe to enter the UK to work rather than study, the National Audit Office has...
The forthcoming minimum price for alcohol should raise money for the Treasury instead of producers and retailers, according to a leading economic think-tank.
MPs have slammed the way the government accounts for £7.7bn of further education funding, warning that the system is uncoordinated and provides poor value for taxpayers.
Public sector borrowing hit a record £15.2bn in February, £6.3bn higher than the same month a year ago, the Office for National Statistics revealed today.
The Court of Appeal has unanimously dismissed trade unions’ legal challenge against the change in the inflation measure used to up-rate public sector pensions.
Chancellor George Osborne has revealed that four large high street banks have signed up to the government’s £20bn scheme to boost lending to small businesses.
