Ministers have quickly rejected key recommendations from Sir Michael Lyons' review of local government, including a revaluation of property prices and an end to capping.
All children should be able to attend good schools, or at least have an equal opportunity of doing so. But that's not the case at present. The controversial new code of admissions aims to even the...
More than £12bn of public funds is spent every year on support for small business but to what effect? A Conservative Party task force found the programmes to be ineffective, bureaucratic and...
Benefits need to be made available for all disabled children and taken up by more families if the government is to eradicate child poverty by 2020, a leading think-tank has warned.
Sir Michael Lyons this week denied that his proposed overhaul of town hall funding would initiate massive hikes in council taxes on expensive homes, and revealed that a long-term plan would accompany...
It no longer seems so much 'if' as 'when'. Bizarre, amazing, doomed call it what you will, but the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness look set to become first and deputy first ministers of...
Just as the Barker review points the way to more planning incentives, along comes the European Union with yet another fly in the ointment. Now even section 106 projects are threatened by procurement...
Hospitals could fail the Healthcare Commission's annual health check if they do not treat elderly patients with dignity and give them adequate help with eating.
Brighton and Hove City Council faces major problems raising at least £100m to improve its homes after tenants voted three to one against transfer to a housing association.
A report published last week summarises the state of social housing and offers some solutions to the dilemmas the sector faces. But it promises no quick solutions to a complex set of problems
Building more low-cost homes for sale is one of the solutions to the housing crisis. But this doesn't have to be the sole preserve of private developers. In fact, social landlords are taking on this...
An acute shortage of social housing is reducing tenants' mobility and failing to offer them an incentive to find work, says a government-commissioned review.
Holyrood could face a radical shake-up after Scotland's May elections. So what difference would it make to public services? David Scott quizzes the key politicians
Northern Ireland's 26 district councils have fixed their rates for 2007/08 the first to be based on properties' capital values as at January 2005 rather than nominal rental values.
A council heavily criticised in a watchdog report has become the first in Scotland to cut its council tax since local government was reorganised in 1996.
Bottled water will continue to be served in the House of Commons despite calls for it to be replaced with more economical and environmentally friendly tap water.
The government has changed the system for allocating Private Finance Initiative credits for council waste services, but campaigners say this will do little to improve environmental sustainability.
Council and housing association tenants should be encouraged to buy as little as 10% of their homes as a first step towards full ownership, social landlords were told this week.
The Commission for Racial Equality's decision to investigate the Department of Health has prompted calls for new mental health legislation to be amended to promote racial equality.
