The Office for National Statistics has denied that it intends to include Private Finance Initiative liabilities in public sector net debt, while admitting to exploring how this could be done.
The general election brought home to the government the country's desire for a return to local democracy. The LGA calls for this to be made a reality and its chair, Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart,...
One day soon, the British public are going to wake up and find that their prime minister has changed. But will they be able to tell the difference between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown? Tony Travers...
The first corporate manslaughter case against a council was thrown out because of the need to identify a 'controlling mind'. But there is no room for complacency, as a new law may shift the balance...
Chancellor Gordon Brown has used his first two keynote speeches since the general election to issue a stark warning to public sector workers against excessive wage demands.
Finance Minister Tom McCabe has called on critics of public-private partnership projects in Scotland to leave preconceived ideas behind and start looking for new solutions to project delivery.
The prime minister has retained some familiar faces as the next phase of public sector reform gets under way. This will tackle pensions, choice and private provision. Karen Day assesses the tasks...
In a move the Conservatives themselves described as 'audacious', one of the party's youngest MPs has been given the daunting task of facing Chancellor Gordon Brown across the dispatch box.
The new Labour government needs to get a grip on spiralling public sector absence rates, which cost the economy more than £4bn last year, business leaders have urged.
Public bodies' use of private management consultants continued to expand rapidly in 2004, with payments to external advisers reaching £1.9bn, according to a new study.
Head teachers must end their war with the government over the 'workload agreement', the outgoing head of the National Association of Head Teachers warned this week.
Scottish local authorities are fuming at First Minister Jack McConnell's hint that a report on the future of the council tax might be delayed until after the 2007 Holyrood elections.
Cost savings are the most readily identifiable outcome of government efficiency drives. But, as Craig Baker and Patrick Lord point out, it is vital to find ways in which to track equally important...
The new terminal at Heathrow airport is on track and on budget. Christian Wolmar believes there are vital lessons for the public sector to learn from BAA's decision to shoulder the risks itself
Whatever the election outcome, the fate of the deputy prime minister's department hangs in the balance. Peter Hetherington predicts some delicate times ahead for the office running Whitehall-town...
The political parties are all talking up the importance of education in the election debate. But, asks Vidhya Alakeson, is spending going where it is most effective?
Private and voluntary bodies could deliver almost a fifth of all public services by 2007, boosted by massive outsourcing plans across the defence, education and health sectors.
