Having overseen the Department of Health's 'big bang' NHS policies, Andy McKeon now scrutinises their impact from an Audit Commission standpoint. Karen Day spoke to him
Neighbourhood boards are the latest big idea for getting the public to improve the services they use. But will this US invention work here, asks Chris Skelcher
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott urged Labour councillors to unite behind the party and 'stop talking and scribbling' in the run-up to the general and county council elections.
The government's 'utopian dislike of prison' has resulted in a reliance on community punishments even though they are less effective, according to a centre-Right think-tank.
Many schools that have elected to specialise in a particular subject are not performing well in their area of expertise, education watchdog Ofsted said this week.
An independent report into the escalating cost of Britain's exam system published this week has spotlighted what it claims is a 'huge amount of superfluous or duplicated information'.
Further education colleges are demanding that the government plug a £200m funding shortfall that leaves them with 10% less cash per pupil than school sixth forms.
The Audit Commission is to slash £18m from public bodies' annual inspection bills after a review concluded that significant areas of the regulator's activities do not represent value for money.
Paul Boateng has given the green light to development work on a cost index that would accurately reflect the financial pressures faced by local authorities, Public Finance has learned.
The Wanless franchise keeps on growing. Not content with producing two influential reports on future NHS funding and public health, the former NatWest chief executive this week announced he is...
The Office for National Statistics must be granted the same independence from political interference as the National Audit Office if public confidence in the UK's economic data is to be restored, a...
Children from the poorest families are badly served by an education system that fails to cater to their needs, the chief schools inspector said this week.
The government's workforce 'remodelling' plans, part of its efficiency agenda, are an attempt to get more out of workers for less and could herald a return to job insecurity, unions warned this week.
People are being attracted back to Britain's cities by better buildings and public services, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott told urban planners this week.
Government auditors delivered some much-needed good news for the Department for Work and Pensions this week, heaping praise on its management of a Private Finance Initiative deal.
Fast-track 'learn on the job' teacher training courses are failing to meet desired standards, school inspectors said this week. The Graduate Teacher Programme pays trainees to work in a school on an...
