The Accounts Commission in Scotland has told councils to review their policy on financial reserves after it was disclosed that these currently amount to almost 9% of total annual expenditure.
The Welsh Assembly government will find it difficult to forge ahead with the proposals for increased autonomy in the long-awaited Richard Commission Report should it choose to back the plans.
Communities Minister Margaret Curran has announced a £284m investment package for affordable housing in Scotland, a 7% increase on the figure for 2003/04.
The Scottish Executive is on course to meet the majority of targets set out in its draft budget for 2004/05, Finance and Public Services Minister Andy Kerr announced this week.
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy has told his party's spring conference that he is not scared to use the word 'redistribution' when describing his tax and spending plans.
The introduction of proportional representation (PR) in Scottish local government has moved a step closer, following a decision by a committee of MSPs to approve the principles of the Local...
The quango responsible for funding further education colleges in Scotland has been accused of being dilatory in its duty to identify essential costs of services.
Senior parliamentary watchdogs this week launched a broadside at the Labour government, criticising ministers for continually blocking Commons committees from cross-examining senior policy advisers...
Scottish universities have urged the Executive to provide £102m of annual funding to enable them to undertake new activities and compete with their counterparts in England and abroad.
Audit Scotland plans to put more emphasis on the experience of service users as a means of strengthening its analysis and reporting of public expenditure, auditor general Bob Black has disclosed.
The stage is set for a showdown between ministers and town hall leaders after authorities defied government orders not to set council tax increases above 5% and issued warnings that budgets could not...
A group of 19 Welsh Labour MPs has signed a petition to Welsh Secretary Peter Hain opposing any increase in powers for the National Assembly unless backed by a referendum.
The prudential framework for local authority borrowing is about to have a major impact on Glasgow's regeneration, according to the city council's chief executive, George Black.
Funding the Private Finance Initiative has increased the level of borrowing for Scottish Water customers by about 30% over the figure for England and Wales, a report disclosed this week.
In the weeks since the Commons narrowly approved the government's controversial plans for top-up fees in England, university chiefs in Scotland have been anxiously awaiting the outcome of a review...
Moray Council in north-east Scotland has been warned to take rapid steps to improve its schools after recording one of the worst ratings ever awarded by school inspectors.
The Standards Commission for Scotland, set up almost a year ago to investigate allegations of misconduct against councillors and members of public bodies, has launched its first investigation.
Scottish councils have told ministers they are entitled to the entire £47m that is Scotland's share of the extra expenditure recently allocated for the UK by Chancellor Gordon Brown.
Spending per head in Scotland has increased, despite expectations that the Barnett Formula would bring funding convergence across the UK, a Scottish Parliament committee was told this week.
Scottish local authority leaders this week defended a proposal that councillors should receive a basic annual salary of £25,000 about half the amount paid to members of the Scottish Parliament.
