The Scottish committee of inquiry into the future of local government finance has stressed its independence from the Lyons review in England, raising the possibility that Scotland could embark on a...
Direct funding would lead to fresh financial turmoil in schools, creating an annual national shortfall of £200m, local government leaders warned this week.
Town hall leaders are demanding urgent reform of the 'out of date and failing' council tax benefit regime, which they say penalises the very people it is supposed to help.
The Conservatives would demand £4.43bn in efficiency savings from local authorities, with Whitehall cuts yielding a further £2.3bn, they announced this week.
The government should take great care in linking expenditure with outcomes as there is little evidence that its extra cash has led to educational improvements, MPs warned this week.
Stripping councils of their education funding powers will leave schools isolated and hinder the drive towards more integrated services, local government leaders warned this week.
The head of a powerful construction consortium has warned the Office of Government Commerce that plans to reform the Private Finance Initiative are flawed.
Councils need to focus on building up effective relationships with their partners as 'new localism' plans move forward over the next few months, according to the Improvement and Development Agency.
Inspectors at the Health and Safety Executive have delivered an overwhelming vote of no confidence in their management board as it prepares to tighten the criteria for accident investigations.
The 'bonfire of the quangos' in Wales is likely to weaken staff morale and could affect performance during the transition period, according to the chair of one of the bodies facing abolition.
Senior civil servants will be able to gain a professional finance qualification within two years under a fast-track scheme launched this week by CIPFA and Warwick Business School.
The forthcoming green paper on adult social care will tackle older people's reluctance to take responsibility for their own provision, senior ministers said this week.
The Local Government Association is preparing to slash funding to its central bodies by 4.1% next year in advance of what is expected to be a tight finance settlement in November.
Home Secretary David Blunkett has rejected radical proposals to 'regionalise' the police service and grant district councils funding powers to 'buy' officers, Public Finance has learned.
Collective choice, co-payments and targeted procurement are likely to be at the heart of Labour's next manifesto, according to a former Cabinet minister close to Blairite thinking.
Local government leaders are to step up their campaign for more government cash in November's revenue support grant settlement, as ministers indicate that they will be looking for average council tax...
Reforming council tax and equalising the balance of funding would be priorities for a first-term Conservative administration, according to the shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman.
Scotland's new finance minister, Tom McCabe, has dismissed comparisons with England on efficiency in government, saying the targets set are 'appropriate for Scotland' irrespective of the figures for...
Audit Scotland has clashed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) over the spending watchdog's claim that more than £170m of public money is being lost through non-payment and...