The Healthcare Commission is to carry out a nationwide study of mental health units for older people after finding that nurses in these wards were more likely to be attacked than those treating...
Scotland's largest local authority is to shed more than 400 posts following its decision to freeze council tax in line with the policy of the Scottish government.
Local authorities will ignore centrally imposed house-building targets unless they have financial incentives to approve developers' plans, according to a senior government adviser.
New housing minister Caroline Flint provoked controversy this week by proposing that council and housing association tenants should be required to sign 'commitment contracts', showing they intend to...
The centre of government has been given a make-over, with new policy advisers and even a permanent secretary at Number 10. But they're no nearer to finding Brown's big idea, says Tony Travers
Not only can the Local Government Information Unit's new executive director juggle family and work but he's handy with the knives, too, writes Joseph McHugh
More strikes are in the offing after thousands of staff brought Birmingham City Council to a standstill on February 5 in protest at the imposition of a new pay structure.
Next year, the Homes and Community Agency will take over a swathe of housing and wider responsibilities. Its chief executive in waiting is raring to go, he tells Neil Merrick
Britain must end its 'addiction' to the idea that choice and diversity in public services inevitably lead to inequalities, new Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has warned.
As Peter Hain reflects on the end of his ministerial career, he can at least console himself that he oversaw the re-establishment of devolved government in Northern Ireland.
The new Department for Children, Schools and Families, headed by secretary of state Ed Balls, is nothing if not ambitious, with a ten-year plan that encompasses all aspects of children's lives. But...
Extra money for health, housing and higher education was announced by the Northern Ireland finance minister, the Democratic Unionists' Peter Robinson, as he finalises his Budget for 2008/09.
Beleaguered police officers took to the streets of London to protest at their staged pay award this week, while debate raged over how the service can be modernised.
Councils should give more thought to how the revenue they collect from charging contributes to their overall financial strategy, the Audit Commission said this week.
Public sector agencies are bearing the brunt of 'round-the-clock drinking and gambling'. But Gordon Brown seems to have lost his earlier resolve to reverse the newly liberalised laws. Peter...
This year has got off to a somewhat odd start, with the word that dared not speak its name nationalisation back from the dead, and even state ownership of body parts up for debate
Council leaders in Wales have condemned the budget presented to the Welsh Assembly on January 15 as 'the worst local government settlement since devolution'.
Prevention is the government's big idea for the NHS in 2008, with an ambitious screening programme, personal health and social care budgets and a push against obesity and binge-drinking. Noel...
Even the most well-meaning and innocent of decisions can fall foul of the law, as the government found when it sent schools copies of An inconvenient truth , Al Gore's film about global warming
The 'use of resources' element of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment has led to a dramatic improvement in council services. But it won't be stopping there. In fact, it's set to play an even...
