Academies have been attacked as the playthings of their sponsors. This is unfair, argues Rod Aldridge, who sponsors two of the schools. They're all about hard work and giving better options to pupils...
The near-revolt over the 10p tax band reveals how Parliament is beginning to exercise its powers to scrutinise government's tax and spending plans a development vital to democracy, argues Colin...
Ten years of bold reforms and massive investment have failed to have any measurable impact on reducing youth offending, says an authoritative new study.
Fire minister Parmjit Dhanda has announced a new equality and diversity strategy for the fire service, which includes what he described as 'the toughest ever recruitment targets for women and people...
NHS leaders and experts have defended an apparent end-of-year spending bonanza, without which the health service's surplus for 2007/08 could have vastly outstripped the £1.8bn figure set by the...
School teaching should be radically overhauled and given a new emphasis on the needs of the youngest children if the recent plateau in pupil progress is to be addressed, a centre-Left think-tank has...
Public sector staff are putting in 120 million hours of unpaid overtime a year - the equivalent of 60,000 extra workers, Bristol University academics have found.
Private and voluntary sector organisations will be encouraged to take charge of the education of some of the country's most troubled and challenging young people, under plans announced by the...
The government pushed ahead with its plans for unitary councils, legalising its actions only after the event and accepting blatantly optimistic savings estimates. This has serious implications for...
A year on from the publication of his report into local government, Sir Michael Lyons tells PF he is disappointed that more progress has not been made. Joseph McHugh reports
Not so long ago, ministers were wild about independent sector treatment centres and their success in bringing down waiting lists. But plans for more seem to have slowed, if not stalled. So is the...
'A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.' That was Winston Churchill's description of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It could equally well describe Northern Ireland's post-primary...
Children's minister Beverley Hughes has announced a £35m pilot scheme to improve access to childcare for parents with disabled children. Part of the Department for Children, Schools and Families'...
Gordon Brown has set out a draft legislative programme combining a new wave of public service reforms with measures aimed at reassuring the public that they will be shielded from the worst of the...
The government stands alone in its faith in the national pupil testing regime, teachers' leaders said this week after MPs called for the system to be urgently reformed.
The Welsh Assembly Government has launched a new strategy to help the estimated 12,000 young people in Wales not in training, education or employment. It is expected to include legislation to provide...
With the main political parties all committed to the academies programme, there is a danger of over-expansion, says James Crabtree. Are there more cost-effective solutions to poor educational...
