Got a problem that needs sorting? You could do worse than ask the senior Cabinet Office minister in charge of most things. Mark Conrad talks to the amiable all-rounder
The latest guidance issued to councils on 'efficiency gains' is clearer and acknowledges the importance of quality. But there are still gaps, not least how all these savings should be measured....
Rumours of the PFI's death have been greatly exaggerated. With its lengthy inflexible contracts and high annual costs, its days were looking numbered in an era of choice. But then Gordon Brown came...
Whitehall's Departmental Capability Reviews should take account of the experience and views of local government, according to a former council chief executive.
The Treasury and the National School of Government are to launch an e-learning training programme to boost financial management skills across Whitehall.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats this week set out their stalls for the local elections on May 4 and immediately attacked one another's record in local government.
Primary school pupils could be measured against individual development targets under plans to boost social mobility being considered by the Cabinet Office, Public Finance has learnt.
The FE white paper rightly recognises that adults and young people have different learning needs. But more needs to be done to provide adult learners with greater choice and lighter-touch planning
Schools and dental services are to be the prime beneficiaries of the extra £45m granted to the Welsh Assembly government in Chancellor Gordon Brown's budget.
The Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 must prioritise anti-child poverty investment if ministers are to hit their targets on the issue, a new report claims.
Further education leaders have urged Education Secretary Ruth Kelly to be more radical in her reforms, following publication of the white paper on the future of the sector this week.
Critics of choice in public services claim that ordinary people don't want it. Quite the opposite, argues Julian Le Grand it's the least well-off who stand to gain the most
With education set to take the lion's share of public spending increases, what are the prospects for other departments? The chancellor will have little room to manoeuvre in the Comprehensive...
Nurses and doctors from developing countries can no longer be poached by the NHS, but other richer nations do not have the same restrictions. Ministers Rosie Winterton and Gareth Thomas call for a...
Self-governing trust schools are New Labour's latest big idea for education. But confusion still reigns over their structure and how they will be governed in practice. Tash Shifrin investigates
The PM is to appoint a new independent 'ethics czar' to stem rising public concern over political misconduct. It doesn't go far enough, argues Colin Talbot
As education leaders rushed to praise a Budget that promised huge increases in education spending, it emerged that the Treasury's familiar sleight of hand was in evidence.
Auditors this week called on Whitehall departments to improve the data underpinning crucial government targets amid fears that more than half of Public Service Agreements are flawed.
Yes, the government missed its 2004/05 target for reducing the number of children in poverty but it has made some heartening progress towards the overall goal. Ian Kearns explains what it needs to...
