A Bill giving councils more power over local public spending, viewed by ministers as vital to the success of the flagship Total Place initiative, could be derailed by a single opposition MP.
Independent audit committee members have vastly improved financial management in Whitehall. Vivienne Russell finds out how the Foreign Office has benefited
There will be ‘a cycle of bigger failures and bigger bail-outs’ unless the UK banking system is radically reformed, the governor of the Bank of England has warned
MPs have called for a change in the law to ensure better oversight of local authority investments in the wake of the Icelandic banking collapse, which left £1bn of public money at risk
The police service needs to ‘radically rethink’ the way it provides back-office functions if it is to rise to the challenge posed by looming funding cuts, MPs have said
The money councils spend on producing periodicals and other newspaper-type communications for local residents is not being wasted, according to the Audit Commission
The pressure is on for public bodies to share services in order to make efficiency savings. But there are considerable risks as well as rewards in taking this approach. Paul Jackson offers ten top...
The Environment Agency has expressed doubts that the Treasury will ramp up funding for flood defences to keep pace with increased risks from climate change
Collaboration between councils and other public bodies will help protect frontline services from the worst effects of the recession, according to a CIPFA report
A major government programme to improve social housing in England has been undermined by poor monitoring of work carried out by councils and housing associations, the National Audit Office said this...
The shadow local government minister has ‘strongly endorsed the thoughts behind’ a report calling for the abolition of major quangos and the radical devolution of responsibilities to local government
Multiple layers of expensive bureaucracy stand between central and local government, reducing accountability and efficient provision of services. It’s time to put these quangos on the bonfire and...
There is little appetite for stripping Ofsted of its role in children’s services despite continued criticism of ‘inconsistent’ and ‘flawed’ inspections, Public Finance has been told
Senior civil servants in the Scottish Government will have their pay frozen as part of plans to cut spending, Finance Secretary John Swinney has announced
NHS organisations are struggling to draw up plans for finance, contracted activity and the future shape of community services to meet severe deadlines imposed by the Department of Health
Councils will be given a settlement of £76.2bn for the coming financial year, a rise of 4%, the Department for Communities and Local Government has confirmed
