The government has opened the multi-million pound schools' IT market to a wider range of private companies, including Internet developers and film-makers, to try to increase competition and raise...
The Ministry of Defence claimed this week it was on target to meet its Public Service Agreement of delivering £700m worth of receipts by 2002 from the sale of its surplus assets.
The government has offered high-performing councils a 'third way' to hang on to housing stock, as registered social landlords were put on course to become the dominant housing providers by 2004.
The Treasury is no longer considered to be the 'enemy' of other Whitehall departments, Gill Noble, deputy director of its public services directorate, said this week.
The government defiantly signalled its increasing commitment to public-private partnerships this week with the announcement that the total value of such projects will almost double to £20bn over the...
The health service's financial problems look set to deepen, with health authorities and hospitals predicting major deficits for 2000/01, despite ministers' hopes of a return to financial balance.
NHS managers and doctors were asking how they would cope with increased patient expectation and lack of cash this week as Health Secretary Alan Milburn launched a plan to cut deaths from heart...
Council tax bills across England and Wales are predicted to rise by an average of 6.3% to £837 for band D properties in 2000/01 about three times the rate of inflation.
A second year of modest council tax rises in Scotland was expected to be announced on March 9, with average figures within the 5% ceiling set by the Scottish Executive.
Town halls could be forced to accelerate their electronic service delivery programmes following the prime minister's pledge to get the whole of Britain on-line by 2005.
Up to 1.3 million local government workers are set to receive a pay rise of just 3% despite warnings that councils are facing a worsening recruitment crisis.
The recent reforms proposed by Sir Richard Wilson, the head of the civil service, are 'self-indulgent' and take no account of cost, according to a leading former civil servant.
Health minister John Denham has called on health authorities to give greater support to primary care groups (PCGs) after a Department of Health survey showed wide variations in the amount of money...
Government warnings to local authorities to keep down council tax rises may have been heeded. Early forecasts, based on counties' figures, suggest bills will rise by about 6% on average in line...
For the ninth year running, the National Audit Office has refused to approve the accounts of the Lord Chancellor's Department after finding insufficient evidence that the expenditure of £633m in...
A growing number of senior industrialists may be attracted to top jobs in the civil service following the appointment of Peter Gershon to head the new Office of Government Commerce (OGC).
The head of the powerful Public Accounts Committee of MPs has slammed health authorities and trusts for not taking seriously the threat of infections picked up by patients in hospitals.
Cabinet secretary Sir Richard Wilson this week admitted there was scope for changing the way government departments are funded, and that they could even consider bidding for money from a central 'pot...
By Maria McHale Education leaders have warned the government that its standards agenda will suffer if councils are forced to fund in full the 3.3% teachers' pay rise announced this week. Education...
As the furore over the role of the Freedom Party in Austria's new coalition government continued this week, it was clear the administration will take a fiscal course designed to reduce the country's...
French, Italian, Portuguese and Belgian environment ministers were gathering in Brussels this week to back calls for 'Car-Free Day 2000' to be extended across the European Union. The launch on...
The City of Naples' search for a private partner to relaunch the southern Italian spa resort of Terme di Agnano has been narrowed down to two Italian consortiums, both with interests in the leisure...
