It’s tricky to conduct change management programmes in the public sector, with a range of interest groups to please and an ever-watchful media. Faith Boardman has been at the sharp end and offers ten...
Japan's economy was in deep trouble well before the recent natural disasters struck. As it struggles to pick up the pieces, what lessons are there to be learnt from the country's 'lost decades'?
Loved and loathed in equal measure, Eric Pickles has made his mark on councils. But he has no regrets, he tells PF in an exclusive interview, as his cuts and changes are in the interests of local...
The American economy is hurting, and the pain is being pushed down to local government level. As debt rows rage on Capitol Hill, how are US cities and states trying to balance their budgets? PF...
VIDEO INTERVIEW: Simon Parker, director of the New Local Government Network, talks to Public Finance about: the think-tank's new Commission on Next Localism; the future of local authority audit; and...
Chopping and changing parts of your organisation might achieve quick savings but won’t solve your long-term budget problems. That requires rethinking your business model, starting with the outcomes...
Local authority accounts are under fire for their increasing length and complexity, with calls for a simple and more transparent process. But is this the right way forward? Nigel Johnson, opposite,...
The government has stolen some of the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ thunder by setting up the Office for Budget Responsibility. But there is still a big role for the institute's forensic analysis of...
The mood music has changed and, since the May 5 elections, the relationship will never be the same again. So, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats locked into a loveless coalition, what does...
Budget cuts mean that managers' workloads are increasing – and most of us need to stop and think seriously about what we are doing and why. Ann McFadyen and Brendan McCarron explain how you can...
VIDEO INTERVIEW: Andy Sawford, chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit, gives an analysis of the May 2011 local elections. He tells Public Finance what the results mean for council...
Faced with the need to save money, public bodies are rushing to sell off their buildings. But there is another way – looking at public sector assets as a whole and working out how to make better use...
Talk of shared services is nothing new, but now it is increasingly turning into action as public bodies seek to find savings without harming services. While a few pioneers are making headlines,...
By loading responsibility for the bulk of spending cuts on to councils, the government has managed to spread the consequences far and wide. The result, says Tony Travers, is that everyone is fighting...
After addressing the CIPFA international conference in London, the former US comptroller general and founder and CEO of the Comeback America Initiative talks to Public Finance about: fiscal...
Staff cuts are inevitable throughout the public sector. But research shows that the way redundancies are undertaken has a greater effect on employees than the job losses themselves. John Marsh...
As the government embarks on radical reform of the welfare system, how is the Department for Work and Pensions' finance director coping with the changes? Hunada Nouss tells PF about bringing...
VIDEO INTERVIEW: The chief executive of Ipsos Mori talks to Public Finance about public opinion on spending cuts, the March 2011 Budget, Chancellor George Osborne and his opposite number Ed Balls. He...
With almost 2 million English households in housing need, what direction of travel should the coalition take to help close the gap? A range of government policies seem to be flying in the face of the...
For two decades the Private Finance Initiative has been the only game in town for financing public infrastructure. Now pressure is mounting for the private firms that have done so well out of it to...
