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24 Jun 04
A government programme to support disadvantaged families with young children is already delivering visible benefits, according to preliminary results of a long-term evaluation project.
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24 Jun 04
Local plans to improve communities are being undermined by the myriad of confusing and complex funding streams, targets and new initiatives emerging from Whitehall, the Audit Commission has reported.
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10 Jun 04
The obesity debate was on the menu again this week as doctors called for a ban on advertising junk food to children.
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10 Jun 04
The planned new children's commissioner will have the power to order investigations without first seeking authorisation from ministers after all, Margaret Hodge has told MPs.
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10 Jun 04
Senior civil servants at two key departments are struggling to meet Chancellor Gordon Brown's dramatic efficiency targets, putting in doubt Whitehall's ability to deliver the wider Gershon agenda,...
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10 Jun 04
The Local Government Association is to reform radically its member structure, replacing its 'static and old-fashioned' committees with cross-cutting boards in an attempt to widen its influence on...
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3 Jun 04
The government's mental health czar, Louis Appleby, has been given extended powers to cover services for older people and for children and adolescents.
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3 Jun 04
The Home Office is set to take on board lessons from a controversial project designed to break the cycle of eviction faced by nuisance families.
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27 May 04
Tessa Jowell, the government's culture secretary and self-declared public health 'nanny', has warned that Labour will not be rushed into measures to curb damaging trends such as obesity despite '...
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27 May 04
Government auditors have endorsed the overall reliability of asylum statistics but warn that some aspects of them are 'misleading' because of the way they are presented.
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27 May 04
League tables purporting to show the progress made by primary school children are unfair and misleading and should be abandoned, head teachers have said.
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13 May 04
Efforts by schools to improve the attainment of Bangladeshi pupils are well focused and effective, according to a report by education watchdog Ofsted.
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13 May 04
Ministers are celebrating after successfully banning the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for families with children beyond six-week emergency periods...
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6 May 04
The government-backed project set up to inject £125m of public money into the voluntary sector will fail unless public sector agencies get on board, the head of the consortium charged with managing...
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29 Apr 04
Overreliance on a small number of vaccine suppliers is putting the provision of routine immunisation programmes at risk, senior MPs warned this week.
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15 Apr 04
It's a safe bet that before the government's draft Gambling Bill hits the jackpot, there will have to be a few more spins of the wheel.
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8 Apr 04
Council leaders are to deliver a stark warning to ministers that key public services will suffer unless they are given significant new resources in the forthcoming Spending Review, Public Finance...
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25 Mar 04
Council social services are better managed than they were seven years ago, but there remains a big gap between the best and worst, according to a 'hand-over' report on the sector published by the...
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25 Mar 04
Government attempts to reduce poverty and inequality across England have had a limited impact so far, despite sustained investment, according to a report by the Social Exclusion Unit.
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18 Mar 04
Gordon Brown threw down the gauntlet to the Conservatives this week when he used his Budget statement to promise substantial extra investment in key public services well into the next Parliament.
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18 Mar 04
Labour activists should make the most of the fact that Labour councils have set the lowest average council tax rises in the forthcoming local elections, the party's leadership has said.
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18 Mar 04
Thousands of care homes in England are endangering their residents by failing to meet national standards on the handling and management of drugs, it emerged this week.
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11 Mar 04
Education Secretary Charles Clarke has published a draft Bill to enable councils to pilot methods of reducing school-run traffic.
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11 Mar 04
Chancellor Gordon Brown faces tough choices over public spending and may have to cut investment in key services to balance the Treasury's books, according to an influential think-tank.
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4 Mar 04
Councils will gain powers to organise pilot schemes to reduce school run traffic under a draft Bill due out next week.
24 Jun 04A government programme to support disadvantaged families with young children is already delivering visible benefits, according to preliminary results of a long-term evaluation project.
