The 1997 Single Status Agreement was supposed to end unequal pay in local government. But a decade on, women are still underpaid, thousands of cases are clogged up in tribunals and workers are on the...
France is struggling, like us, to cut back its public sector and devote more resources to the front line. But she would be wise to learn from the British experience before adopting our policies...
Despite receiving real-terms funding increases, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills is busy making value-for-money savings, with science and second-chance students among the losers...
Charges are a powerful means of boosting local coffers and even changing people's negative behaviour. But councils not Whitehall are best placed to judge how this should be done
The centre of government has been given a make-over, with new policy advisers and even a permanent secretary at Number 10. But they're no nearer to finding Brown's big idea, says Tony Travers
Not only can the Local Government Information Unit's new executive director juggle family and work but he's handy with the knives, too, writes Joseph McHugh
The new Department for Children, Schools and Families, headed by secretary of state Ed Balls, is nothing if not ambitious, with a ten-year plan that encompasses all aspects of children's lives. But...
Next year, the Homes and Community Agency will take over a swathe of housing and wider responsibilities. Its chief executive in waiting is raring to go, he tells Neil Merrick
Public sector agencies are bearing the brunt of 'round-the-clock drinking and gambling'. But Gordon Brown seems to have lost his earlier resolve to reverse the newly liberalised laws. Peter...
The IDA showed it was taking equality issues seriously when it hired big hitter Angela Mason as adviser to local government. She tells Joseph McHugh her plans
This year has got off to a somewhat odd start, with the word that dared not speak its name nationalisation back from the dead, and even state ownership of body parts up for debate
The 'use of resources' element of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment has led to a dramatic improvement in council services. But it won't be stopping there. In fact, it's set to play an even...
Prevention is the government's big idea for the NHS in 2008, with an ambitious screening programme, personal health and social care budgets and a push against obesity and binge-drinking. Noel...
Even the most well-meaning and innocent of decisions can fall foul of the law, as the government found when it sent schools copies of An inconvenient truth , Al Gore's film about global warming
The government's Children's Plan sets out an ambitious vision for raising educational standards. Here, schools minister Jim Knight explains how a new approach to commissioning can help local...
Business process outsourcing is growing rapidly in local government, as cash-strapped councils agree huge deals with private firms to provide a range of back-office services. Anat Arkin examines the...
Another day, another departmental disaster: can't the government get anything right? Colin Talbot takes an unseasonal swipe at civil service blunders and asks what's behind Whitehall's annus...
Where next for the IPPR? Judy Hirst talks to its new co-directors about a more consensual style of politics and why two thinking heads are better than one
Love it or loathe it, the PFI has been a part of the public sector for more than a decade. But with changes in government policies and in its accounting treatment, what future, if any, does it have...
When the Home Office accounts were disclaimed by the National Audit Office, it was symptomatic of a wider malaise. The only cure was a complete turnround in the way the department handled its...
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills is one half of the most challenging education upheaval yet. Will it provide firm foundations for further and higher education and boost the UK...
A report this month showed that councils are still dragging their feet when it comes to trading and charging. Even the government is getting exasperated at their refusal to make the most of their...
There are big ambitions for the Comprehensive Area Assessment: for it to judge how well councils are serving their communities, and for it to be a more nimble form of inspection than its predecessor...
The PFI has proved its worth in many projects, large and small, but it is not the only funding game in town particularly when flexibility is needed. Nick Prior explains
