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2 Nov 12
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has hailed the passage of the Local Government Finance Act, claiming the reforms could deliver a £10bn economic gain.
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1 Nov 12
Auditors have qualified the Whole of Government Accounts for the second consecutive year due to ‘significant issues’ with the quality and consistency of the data used in the financial statements.
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31 Oct 12
As the slings and arrows keep coming, how can the public sector keep calm and carry on? Alex Davda and Vicki Culpin explain ten ways that managers can strengthen themselves and their organisations
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25 Oct 12
Halfway through its term in office, the coalition is still looking for a route map to recovery. The chancellor’s Autumn Statement must offer some way out of here, argues Steve Freer
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18 Oct 12
Whitehall’s budgeting system has improved but is still not good at demonstrating whether spending decisions represent value for money, the National Audit Office said today.
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10 Oct 12
Good planning, flexible resourcing, adaptable behind-the-scenes technology and a can-do attitude are a few of the gold-medal lessons to be learned from the success of the first ‘Twitter Olympics’
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8 Oct 12
Town halls in England are to be offered funding for a third successive council tax freeze next year but the amount available to each authority has been cut, Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles...
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5 Oct 12
Many employees in local government and the NHS could be being paid in a way that can lead to tax avoidance, the Public Accounts Committee warned today.
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5 Oct 12
To survive and thrive in a harsh climate, public bodies need to nurture a sense of shared purpose with other sectors, which means adopting growth-friendly business practices and ensuring...
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4 Oct 12
Shared services cannot compensate for 28% cuts to local government grants. But they can help break down silos and deliver more seamless outcomes to the public, the LGA's Peter Fleming says
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3 Oct 12
Labour would create a ‘one budget’ health and social care system to ensure better integration between the different types of care, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said today.
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3 Oct 12
Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude has launched a critique of Whitehall civil servants, claiming they do not always implement ministerial decisions.
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1 Oct 12
It is abundantly clear that George Osborne’s Plan A has failed. Instead of just waiting for something to turn up, he needs to use the Autumn Statement to launch a radical programme for economic...
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28 Sep 12
CIPFA chief executive Steve Freer is to step down within the next 12 months, it was announced today.
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18 Sep 12
Twenty-five economists have urged ministers to ditch national pay bargaining in the public sector, saying it is ‘bad for Britain’.
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12 Sep 12
Public servants are having to navigate the twists and turns of government policy as part of ministers’ efforts to increase Whitehall’s financial skills
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10 Sep 12
Performance reviews can seem like practising scales on the piano: vital but dull and time-consuming. However, they are an opportunity to set the tone, fine-tune the goals and bring out the virtuoso...
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6 Sep 12
Next year councils take charge of business rates and council tax support. As the levels of both are heavily dependent on changes in local economies, finance departments will have to keep one step...
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3 Sep 12
The greatest risk in the process of closing the Audit Commission is that functions will ‘fall between gaps’, the proposed next chair of the spending watchdog has told MPs.
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3 Sep 12
As the Audit Commission prepares to bow out, incoming controller Marcine Waterman explains how it is going back to its regulatory roots while continuing to protect public money and audit quality
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30 Aug 12
The Scottish Government has been urged to address ‘significant weaknesses’ in public sector IT programmes after Audit Scotland revealed delays and cost overruns across three schemes.
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29 Aug 12
NHS hospitals are improving the accuracy of the information they record for the payment by results funding system, the Audit Commission said today.
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29 Aug 12
The proportion of honours awarded to civil servants and other public sector workers should be ‘rebalanced’ with those given to people who volunteer in their local communities, MPs have recommended.
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29 Aug 12
Councils could mitigate the cut in Council Tax Benefit funding by tackling fraud and error when they take over the system next year, Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said yesterday.
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3 Aug 12
Councils will have to give the government details of their borrowing plans to qualify for the lower Public Works Loan Board interest rates announced in the Budget, it has been revealed.