Residents' satisfaction with services and value for money should be the yardsticks against which local authorities are measured when Comprehensive Area Assessments are introduced in 2009, according...
There has been one gaping hole in Labour's devolution success: the English regions. RDAs and non-elected assemblies have not lived up to expectations and the new PM is looking to give more powers to...
Should citizens have a direct say in the way councils spend their money? George Jones and John Stewart explore the pros and cons of participatory budgeting an idea whose time might have come
The scaling down of Public Service Agreements has been heralded as emblematic of a less centralist approach to performance management. But details of the new delivery agreements suggest otherwise
Town halls were celebrating a 'victory for common sense' this week after the High Court ruled in their favour in a dispute with Whitehall over the distribution of a special grant designed to reward...
Could the collapse of London Tube PPP consortium Metronet have been averted or is there something about this type of public-private deal that spells disaster? Christian Wolmar investigates
In the early days of New Labour, the Private Finance Initiative was seen as the only game in town for funding major public sector projects, but the Metronet crisis could mean the game is up, writes...
An intense focus on outcomes is essential if the public sector is to deliver real value, says Geoffrey Filkin. Here he argues that government can achieve better performance without committing extra...
Whitehall-set public service targets are to be slashed and councils given greater scope to boost regional economies, the Treasury said this week indications that the new government may be putting...
Sure Start children's centres came under fire again this week after senior MPs criticised them for not doing enough to help the most disadvantaged families.
The Cabinet Office has ordered an urgent review of the UK's civil contingencies planning following a report on the Buncefield oil depot blast, which revealed widespread public confusion about...
The chief medical officer for England and Wales, Sir Liam Donaldson, has used his annual report to call for 'raided' public health funds to be restored.
It's time to step up the fight against global warming. Local government has been leading the way but now it must help an increasingly concerned public to do its bit. The best way is through...
A new level of ambition is needed if communities are to guarantee their viability in the low-carbon decades ahead. That's why we must find the next Chamberlains, Livingstones and Schwarzeneggers
Now that politicians have promoted sustainability from token policy pledge to manifesto must-have, Public Finance 's latest round table posed the question of how local authorities can save the...
New Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has vowed to make 'localism and devolution' the watchwords of her tenure, she said in her first major speech since her appointment.
Public bodies are undermining Prime Minister Gordon Brown's efficiency drive by paying up to two-thirds above the market rate for equipment and services, a study of the sector's procurement habits...
New Health Secretary Alan Johnson is launching a much-needed charm offensive starting with a clinician-led NHS review. Seamus Ward assesses the chances of tackling the problems stacking up in his...
Sir Simon Milton, the new chair of the Local Government Association, believes that there are local solutions to a range of issues, from health to housing, and he is determined to fight for more...
Restrictions on local authority borrowing have been gradually eased but one dinosaur law remains, which covers council companies and similar entities. Now its turn for reform has come in a new Bill