Whitehall departments could have their contributions to cross-government policies reviewed under Gordon Brown's plans to broaden responsibility for crucial public services, Public Finance has...
Former chancellor Kenneth Clarke has stood for the Tory leadership three times but his failure has not dampened his political activism, he tells Joseph McHugh
The need to base public service reforms on market disciplines has been an uphill battle for the Labour government. But there really is no practicable alternative, argues Anthony Browne
Is New Labour's modernisation agenda for public services anywhere near endgame? Tony Travers surveys the progress so far and asks whether a Brown government should slow down or speed up the pace of...
It seems the NHS is now safe in everyone's hands. But while its founding principles remain intact it will have to undergo radical surgery to keep up with twenty-first century demands, argues former...
Britain's energy policies are an 'incoherent hotchpotch' that could fail to secure crucial supplies, tackle climate change and combat global poverty, independent experts have warned.
Health professionals have reacted angrily to news that the NHS 'underspent' by around £500m last year as it attempted to recover its £547m deficit, claiming patients and staff have suffered as a...
Public service reform will grind to a halt under Gordon Brown's premiership as the Labour party lurches to the Left, shadow chancellor George Osborne argued in a speech this week.
Trade unions have hailed as 'long overdue' the government's announcement that it is to draw up a consistent pay and conditions framework for the support staff working in England's schools.
A leading teaching union has called for a 10% pay rise for teachers so the profession can compete with the private sector to recruit the brightest graduates.
A major rethink is needed on the government's reform programme. Central to that is the concept of 'public value' and new ways of getting public sector workers on board. Brendan Barber outlines a...
Ahead of taking up the premiership, Gordon Brown has promised a redistribution of power down from central to local government. Is this just fantasy politics or will the new PM deliver the goods?
The recent UK-wide elections have highlighted the fact that there is not one NHS but four. Noel Plumridge examines what binds the different health services and what sets them apart
Pre-school intervention programmes reap huge rewards for society. But the government needs to use the next Comprehensive Spending Review to do some joined-up funding of local initiatives, argues...
The political battle over academy schools will intensify next week, when a leading think-tank publishes data indicating that institutions that control their own admissions procedures are increasingly...
The top tier of the civil service in Scotland has been radically reorganised to fit the slimmer Cabinet introduced by the new Scottish Nationalist Party minority government.
Local authorities will soon be asked to help Whitehall meet its strict child poverty targets as part of the government's ambitious plan to eradicate the problem by 2020.
Vocational training for school children should be delivered in partnership with local businesses, which are then exempted from their rates. This would boost youngsters' skills and also benefit small...
Gordon Brown has said he is not opposed to electoral reform if it keeps the constituency link. One idea is the alternative vote system, which is supported by ministers Gareth Thomas and James...
It's the public services, stupid. As Ireland's voters prepare for a general election, the focus is on problems in the country's huge state sector. The rival parties all have their own solutions,...
Court action came a step closer this week for nine public sector bodies that have continued to fail to comply with new disability discrimination legislation.
The relationship between citizen and government will have to undergo a radical shift if future challenges are to be met, two of Tony Blair's former advisers warned this week.
Further education colleges have given their backing to a major inspection shake-up that will see the best colleges subject to shorter 'light touch' visits and more resources and support directed at...
Chancellor Gordon Brown must extend payment by results systems across the public services if he is to effectively re-engage staff in the reform agenda, a senior minister has claimed.
