The Lyons Inquiry will have to find a way to make council tax fairer without the benefit of a revaluation of English homes. Peter Kenway and Ines Newman go back to basic principles and explain how...
Alan Johnson has vowed to unveil wide-ranging proposals next month to put a stop to the 'chill indifference' of the state to children in care and banish the deep-seated disadvantage that condemns...
The Scottish Executive has performed well against most of its transport targets but should provide a fuller picture of what is being achieved for a rising, multi-billion pound investment, auditor...
Annual budgets, monitored monthly, are inappropriate in many fast-moving parts of the public sector. They could learn from the 'flexible business management' approach recently adopted by the IDA
As the Labour Party gathers for a tumultuous annual conference, Madeleine Bunting and Simon Parker ask what almost ten years of Blairism has really meant for public services. And how can New Labour...
The Liberal Democrats successfully shrugged off their image as a high tax-and-spend party after members endorsed radical proposals that shift the focus of taxation from income to wealth and pollution.
Sickness absence rates across the civil service rose last year, despite a blizzard of Whitehall initiatives to tackle the problem, the Cabinet Office has revealed.
The new head of the Local Government Information Unit aims to ensure that the think-tank plays a leading role in reform of the sector, he tells Joseph McHugh
Ahead of this week's TUC conference, the chancellor has made clear there will be a 2% cap on public sector pay rises. And with NHS deficits being widely blamed on inflationary pay deals, he is...
The Healthcare Commission is concerned about the standards of children's services in more than a quarter of casualty and almost half of the outpatients departments in England.
New Labour has embraced the world of management consultancy with great enthusiasm. But what has the public sector got back in return? Former management consultant David Craig offers a user-friendly...
Contrary to popular opinion, the government has successfully used IT to transform a variety of services, from electronic payment of benefits to the Jobcentre Plus Job Bank. And the transformation...
'Co-production' is the latest big idea buzzing round Whitehall, with the aim of involving citizens more in the design and delivery of local public services. But, as Vivienne Russell discovered, there...
The Local Government Association has called for an additional £28m in central funding to councils to help them co-ordinate carbon emission reduction commitments, following the government's Energy...
The proposal to open NHS commissioning to private companies envisages that primary care trusts will be able to choose whether or not to use these services. But PCTs look likely to be pressed to do...
Breakfast and after-school clubs have a beneficial effect on children's confidence and motivation but they are being hampered by short-term funding, school inspectors said this week.
The city-regions agenda has been thrown into doubt after two of the chancellor's closest political allies this week revealed their 'deep scepticism' at its viability as a model.
Regional aid budgets face a shake-up as the EU adapts its funding system to deal with enlargement. This is likely to hit areas with fragile economies unless the government offers councils a safety...
