The Liberal Democrats go into their conference at Brighton next week hoping for a boost from having either won or taken second place in the Brent East by-election, which was due to take place on 18...
Service's 128 directly managed prisons in England and Wales spent £461m on essential supplies, while Prison Service headquarters spent a further £491m on central projects and services, such as...
Local government's much-heralded Pay Commission could be a damp squib when it reports back next month, after it emerged that union-employer infighting has left the body with little chance of reaching...
Gordon Brown's special adviser has admitted council tax is the key issue facing the 'balance of funding review', as a storm of protest broke out over a ministerial threat to cap rises next year.
New housing associations set up following stock transfers are struggling to meet promises made to former council tenants because they are losing so many homes, says a new survey.
A Conservative government would dismantle the 'command state' constructed by the Labour party and radically decentralise public services, according to a policy document setting out the party's reform...
Unions warned the government this week that they could 'no longer drag their heels' over the two-tier workforce after Labour's favourite think-tank said the issue was stalling progress on public...
The personnel swaps between central and local government continued this week with Improvement and Development Agency deputy John O'Brien announcing his move to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Councils will have to produce just eight major service plans by 2006 after ministers unveiled details of long-awaited cuts in the number of documents that must be submitted to Whitehall.
The...
Education managers are urging Whitehall officials to undertake a rigorous analysis of the school funding reforms outlined by Education Secretary Charles Clarke to ensure there is no repeat of this...
NHS financial discipline must be tightened and deficits eradicated, Welsh Health Minister Jane Hutt warned this week after a far-reaching review claimed that demand could overwhelm services in the...
The Local Government Association's hunt for a successor to Neil Kinghan has been thrown into disarray after top Treasury mandarin Adam Sharples turned down the job, Public Finance has learned....
Town hall leaders this week hit out at ministers for relegating councils to the sidelines in the rush to reform public services, and promised to 'fight for local government'.
The possibility of a merger of the ombudsman services for local authorities, central government and health has receded indefinitely, local government ombudsman Tony Redmond has complained in his...
Hopes that a deal on consultants' terms and conditions could be struck were raised this week when the new health secretary invited doctors' leaders to a meeting to discuss the way forward.
Fire authority employers have warned of further industrial strife in the wake of the plans to overhaul firefighters' working practices and service structures.