Chancellor Gordon Brown's attempts to boost low earners' incomes through benefits have been thwarted because means testing has discouraged some people from staying in work, a study has claimed.
Alan Johnson has vowed to unveil wide-ranging proposals next month to put a stop to the 'chill indifference' of the state to children in care and banish the deep-seated disadvantage that condemns...
As the Labour Party gathers for a tumultuous annual conference, Madeleine Bunting and Simon Parker ask what almost ten years of Blairism has really meant for public services. And how can New Labour...
Social exclusion minister Hilary Armstrong this week warned local authorities and government departments that they must improve the way they deliver services to Britain's most vulnerable groups or...
More than 10% of social care posts were unfilled in September 2005, an increase of 0.6% from 2001, a survey commissioned by the Local Government Association has found.
Local and central government are under intense scrutiny, as a plethora of inquiries and reviews get set to report by the end of the year. But with near-civil war gripping the government, how likely...
A sharp rise in the child prison population has left councils hard pressed to meet their statutory duties to care for vulnerable child ex-offenders, say town hall leaders.
Children's needs involve broader issues than exam results and school performance. A new inspection system assesses the way they are dealt with holistically. Shane Flynn looks at the results
'Co-production' is the latest big idea buzzing round Whitehall, with the aim of involving citizens more in the design and delivery of local public services. But, as Vivienne Russell discovered, there...
The Healthcare Commission is concerned about the standards of children's services in more than a quarter of casualty and almost half of the outpatients departments in England.
Prime Minister Tony Blair will next week launch a new attack on social exclusion, extending help to vulnerable children and adults through existing funding, which could be boosted in this winter's...
The Scottish Executive's permanent secretary John Elvidge has appointed an external review team to look at improving leadership, strategic thinking and the delivery of policy objectives for the next...
Councils are warning that they are being starved of vital resources to fund basic services because of the government's inability to produce accurate immigration figures.
In these straitened times, it is no surprise that finance directors are looking to make savings on insurance. Many organisations are now planning to ditch traditional insurers for a pooled approach...
Breakfast and after-school clubs have a beneficial effect on children's confidence and motivation but they are being hampered by short-term funding, school inspectors said this week.
Lone parents on income support should be able to keep all the child maintenance they receive under the government's reformed child support system, a former welfare minister has argued.
It's been all around the Houses, argued over and amended beyond recognition. And it only managed to get this far with Opposition support. Phil Revell considers the progress of the controversial...
The Department of Health has admitted that its payment by results hospital funding scheme has led to a deterioration in care for older people, has 'not worked' for specialist children's hospitals and...
