The Local Government Association has launched a review of the Improvement and Development Agency as part of its programme to scrutinise its central bodies.
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.
Gordon Brown's pledge to prune Whitehall's army of Sir Humphreys and slash billions of pounds from the government's annual spending bill ensured that these issues dominated last week's post-Budget...
British local government is not powerful enough to underpin a switch to a social insurance scheme for national health care, while Conservative Party plans for 'patient passports' to ease the burden...
The Conservative Party will go back to first principles and avoid the lure of quick-fix solutions to the council tax controversy, its new local government finance spokesman has told Public Finance .
More than £1bn a year needs to be invested in the social housing sector to meet future demand and secure a long-term improvement in the housing market, the Treasury-commissioned review of UK housing...
Choice will play a central part in the next phase of public service reform, opening up services to greater influence from users, according to one of the prime minister's chief advisers.
The health service and EDS are to take their differences to mediation after it emerged that the IT outsourcing company was seeking compensation for the cancellation of its e-mail contract.
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.
Pensioners are being urged to claim the council tax reductions they are entitled to as part of a government campaign to stem mounting opposition from older people.
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...
One in five civil servants will face the sack unless they significantly boost their performance under reforms that sound the death knell for the career mandarin.
The head of the consortium that will manage the government's £125m fund to help charities be more effective in public service delivery hopes to use some of the money to test the viability of long-...
Chancellor Gordon Brown's review of the Private Finance Initiative should stipulate that the rules that are mandatory for NHS PFI disclosure should apply to the whole of the public sector, according...
Public service leaders are demanding a 'substantive' role in the Treasury's wide-ranging efficiency review amid mounting concerns that ministers will impose 'unrealistic' and 'unworkable' reforms on...
Normal political debate has pretty much been forgotten amid the tumult of the Hutton Inquiry report and the vote over university top-up tuition fees, but in recent days senior Labour figures have...
Storm clouds were gathering over local government pay this week, with unions set to lodge a 4% pay claim, despite warnings that employers are determined to keep to the Treasury's inflation-only limit...
The government is 'seriously considering' proposals to hand control of the business rates back to town halls, and privately recognises that firms are not contributing their fair share of funding to...
The government is planning a crackdown against 31 councils on a secret Whitehall hit list identifying those likely to set inflation-busting council tax increases, as the issue dominated the political...
Local government leaders are to urge ministers to review the entire regulatory framework for councils, while broadly endorsing the Audit Commission's planned reforms to the Comprehensive Performance...
