The prospect of a strike by 2 million staff moved a step closer this week after unions and the Employers' Organisation failed to reach an agreement over the pension age for the local government...
Prime Minister Tony Blair this week rejected criticisms that he hindered Whitehall transparency by refusing to allow his strategy adviser Lord Birt to be questioned by a Commons committee.
Voluntary sector bodies are not just talking about public service provision. They're successfully delivering it. So why is the government so slow to back up the Third Sector with long-term contracts...
The former Inland Revenue replaced the Department for Work and Pensions as Whitehall's most sickly organisation last year with staff taking an average of 12 days off ill.
As Prime Minister Tony Blair lost a hotly debated Commons vote on the controversial plan to detain terrorist suspects for 90 days, the row escalated over who will pay for the anti-terror measures...
Unison members at Sefton on Merseyside are to strengthen their campaign of selective industrial action following the council's decision last week to sack two members who campaigned against a housing...
Rhodri Morgan is every bit as evangelical as Tony Blair when it comes to improving public services. But Wales is taking a very different route from Westminster. Steve Davies reports on public sector...
An 'alternative Lyons inquiry' to examine the next phase of local government modernisation and its implications for councils' finances and functions is to be launched by an influential think-tank.
Controversial proposals to overhaul the probation service by opening it up to competition met with fierce criticism this week from employers and unions alike.
The creation of 'super-councils' to run all public services is among radical options being considered by the Scottish Executive's review of governance.
Sunday is a day of rest and dread if you run a public body. For, come Monday, you know you have to run a gauntlet of inspectors, auditors, MPs and others who all have something to say about your...
It's the biggest shake-up in social care for 30 years, with seamless children's services at its core. But already boundary disputes and rows about funding are spoiling the party
Becoming more efficient isn't an end in itself for local authorities. By improving the way they do things, councils can concentrate more on their main job managing resources and services in the...
A future Conservative government should match Margaret Thatcher's 'enterprise revolution' in industry, with a 'social enterprise revolution' in the public services, shadow health secretary Andrew...
Scottish local authorities have called on the Executive to provide additional funding to cope with the 'massive' financial implications of its flagship law and order Bill.
The public sector could employ an additional 5,700 doctors, 12,800 nurses or 9,100 police officers annually with the money it loses through two forms of benefit fraud.
The health service can afford pay rises of no more than 2.5% next year, NHS Employers said this week as concern grew over NHS organisations' ability to balance their books.
At first sight, the plan to cut down the public sector inspectorates from 11 to four seems sensible. But a closer look shows there is method in the seeming madness of the current messy, overlapping...
The council tax issue is not going to go away, says Tony Travers. The government might have postponed the revaluation but this won't stop the annual rises and accompanying protests. It's time to take...
There will be no 'fourth option' for funding improvements to housing stock and councils must use private money to achieve the decent homes standard, David Miliband was due to warn delegates in...
