Gordon Brown's fiscal rules were invented to win his party credibility, but he has changed their definitions so often that unless they are independently scrutinised we face a borrowing disaster
The NHS needs finance skills more than ever if it is to transform itself into a modern, forward-planning organisation while struggling with major structural upheavals, growing deficits and the need...
Can you only feel the public service ethos if you are employed by the public sector? Of course not, says Ann Rossiter. It all depends on the values of the service provider
The inquiry into local government funding has been widened, but the same questions remain, namely those of devolution, fairness, and how to tackle the public's understanding of the way councils work
Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are meant to be as one on the need for radical public sector reform. But as Blair embarks on one of his last Party conferences as PM, his quest for a legacy is bringing...
They call him the 'smiling assassin' and he's certainly ruthless about improving education. DfES permanent secretary Sir David Normington talks to Maria McHale about his role and rumours of an...
The London bombings are putting long-established 'community cohesion' policies to the test and threatening to hijack them in the name of a quick fix for terrorism.
The legislative process needs to be pared down and made subject to 'sunset clauses' if more trust is to be built up between central and local government, argue George Jones and John Stewart
Mammoth PFI commitments appear to have had their day in the NHS, now that the government is prizing competition above all else. Smaller, self-financed projects are emerging as the way forward
The Prudential Code has not led to councils abandoning leasing for loans as predicted, but finance managers say it has freed them to borrow for major projects that will save money in the long term
Schools are improving, but some are still performing well below their best. Ofsted chief David Bell explains how a lean, mean, new inspection regime will sweep up these laggards and help them to...
Current UK procurement rules were drawn up decades before the Internet existed and globalisation took off. Now draft regulations aim to bring these up to date and put a new EU directive into effect
As the TUC and government square up for their annual seaside contest, ministers face a movement riven with divisions and agonising about its future. Judy Hirst predicts tough times ahead for public...
As soon as the A-level results are announced, the arguments start, as the qualification is denounced and celebrated in turn. But in the furore, the practical questions about the exam tend to be...
It's difficult to see local government as the stuff of good theatre. But David Edgar's play uses infighting at a failing council to make some trenchant points about democracy. Joseph McHugh reports
The IRA's decision to end armed conflict finally gives Northern Ireland's citizens the chance of a normal life. But this means setting up democratic systems to replace political structures built...
It seems the 'Berlin Wall' dividing health and social care might finally be coming down, as ministers finalise a combined white paper. But will this lead to a merger of social services departments...
Finally, a hospital waiting time target that should genuinely help patients. But can the tough new plan to cut the time from GP referral to treatment to 18 weeks be achieved? Anthony Harrison and...
Support for the Private Finance Initiative could be about to plummet if the Office for National Statistics gets its way. The statisticians plan to remove the scheme's big advantage: invisible public...
Britain still dumps most of its rubbish in landfill sites, instead of recycling it. But tough new European Union regulations are set to change all that. David Meilton reports on how councils are...
Many of Bexley council's school pupils were being educated in huts, with winds raging through broken windows. Then the chance of a £30m PFI refurbishment programme came along. Mike Ellsmore explains...
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's review of the local government grant formula must take greater account of the extra cost of providing essential public services to far-flung rural...
