Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has hailed the passage of the Local Government Finance Act, claiming the reforms could deliver a £10bn economic gain.
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.
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
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
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.
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’
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...
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.
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...
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
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.
Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude has launched a critique of Whitehall civil servants, claiming they do not always implement ministerial decisions.
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...
Public servants are having to navigate the twists and turns of government policy as part of ministers’ efforts to increase Whitehall’s financial skills
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...
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...
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
