The Budget confirmed how much or little the Comprehensive Spending Review will have to play with. Whatever juggling goes on, something's got to give. But which government pledge will it be?
Teaching and school leaders have been muted in their response to a Budget that guarantees further real-terms increases in education spending, albeit at a much lower rate.
Ministers have quickly rejected key recommendations from Sir Michael Lyons' review of local government, including a revaluation of property prices and an end to capping.
The Private Finance Initiative could be costing the NHS an extra £480m a year as private equity providers enjoy a 58% return on their investment, according to research from Manchester Business School.
All children should be able to attend good schools, or at least have an equal opportunity of doing so. But that's not the case at present. The controversial new code of admissions aims to even the...
Last week's draft Climate Change Bill shows the UK government is serious about tackling global warming. But it needs to go even further, argues Stuart Williams
Councils and nursery providers have warned that the proposed national curriculum for babies, toddlers and pre-school children needs to be backed with adequate funding if it is to be a success.
It no longer seems so much 'if' as 'when'. Bizarre, amazing, doomed call it what you will, but the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness look set to become first and deputy first ministers of...
Ministers and councillors should have more direct control over quangos and arm's-length bodies, Tom McCabe, Scotland's finance minister, has suggested.
NHS staff in Scotland are to receive their entire 2.5% pay increase in April following a surprise decision that conflicts with the phased deal on offer to their counterparts in England and Wales.
Two heads are better than one when it comes to leading a major culture change in children's services. Sally Gainsbury meets the joint presidents of the Association of Directors of Children's Services...
Public sector managers are to be made more accountable for the advice they give to elected members, Tom McCabe, the Scottish finance minister, has disclosed.
Pre-school children are not meeting government-set learning goals because of variable early years teaching standards, education inspectors said this week.
Departmental ministers should have more say over the direction of government policy, while measures must be introduced to improve transparency around planning, an influential committee has reported.
Local government trade unions have agreed to hold off further industrial action in their long-running dispute over pensions as they believe they are close to a deal, Public Finance has learnt.
Number 10's online road-pricing e-petition was a huge hit. Not in terms of the likely fate of that policy but because it encouraged nearly 2 million people to put their point of view. Not a bad...
The government has shelved controversial plans to produce estimates of public sector productivity as part of an overhaul of national accounting, Public Finance has learnt.
English universities are to receive a good funding settlement to help them get to grips with the new fee regime, higher education bosses said this week.
A report published last week summarises the state of social housing and offers some solutions to the dilemmas the sector faces. But it promises no quick solutions to a complex set of problems
Ministers would set the education and community care budgets of every council in Scotland and take responsibility for managing these services under a radical plan drawn up by a leading civil servant.
Children's services in hospitals are poor because they are underfunded and not given the priority they deserve, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said this week.
