The government’s decision to go ahead with local elections in 21 areas originally slated to hold delayed ballots in 2027 has been labelled a ‘fiasco’ by the Institute for Government.
Better communication to the public about the government’s priorities and how it intends to meet its objectives could prove the key to addressing public dissatisfaction with its performance.
Conservative plans to save £8bn by shrinking the civil service payroll are overly simplistic and potentially counterproductive, a leading think-tank and a public sector trade union have warned.
A pervasive aversion to risk and uncertainty is preventing public procurement from driving the delivery of the government’s key missions, according to new analysis.
The government would have “no strong case” to deny local areas the power to introduce a tourism tax as part of its sweeping plans for English devolution, according to a leading think-tank.
The government has been told it should do more to reform the “outdated and inadequate” way in which public money has traditionally been allocated, despite improvements in the Spending Review.
The forthcoming shake-up of government procurement may be undermined by the difficulty of excluding major suppliers even in the worst cases of poor performance, a report has warned.
The next government will have just days to avert a crisis in the prison service, with English and Welsh jails on the brink of running out of places, a leading think-tank has warned.
Prevention must be embedded into the next government’s spending programme if it is to avoid higher taxes or a deterioration in public services, a leading think-tank has warned.
The next government has been urged to launch a one-year spending review within its first few weeks to avoid a damaging cliff edge at the end of the year.
Longer-term certainty over departmental funding will improve value for money and give government spending plans more credibility, the Institute for Government has said.
Most public services will remain worse in four years’ time than they were just before Covid-19 – and most of them were already worse than they were in 2010 – CIPFA and the Institute for Government’s...
Northern Ireland’s civil servants have warned that “sub-optimal” budgets will lead to further cuts that could constrain council services and worsen court delays.
To get brilliant people from the private sector or local government into Whitehall, the Civil Service needs to fix its reputation, increase pay and ensure there are sufficient senior roles to...
Ministers should use Wednesday’s budget as an opportunity to provide a sustainable long term funding settlement for the social care sector or risk exacerbating existing care issues, experts have said.
Measures in the Autumn Statement favour councils in well-off areas that already raise lots of money from council tax, while those in deprived areas that already bore the brunt of austerity miss out,...
