Beefing up city and county regions might paradoxically be the most effective way of putting the local into 'new localism' in the twenty-first century, argues Gerry Stoker
Having overseen the Department of Health's 'big bang' NHS policies, Andy McKeon now scrutinises their impact from an Audit Commission standpoint. Karen Day spoke to him
Neighbourhood boards are the latest big idea for getting the public to improve the services they use. But will this US invention work here, asks Chris Skelcher
If the forthcoming social care green paper avoids spelling out the cost of long-term care for older people, Sir Derek Wanless's review is likely to be less coy, argues Paul Gosling
Risk registers are becoming ever-more numerous and elaborate, but they are not worth the Word documents they are printed on if they fail to engage with the everyday business of their organisation
Local government unions look likely to press ahead with ballots for industrial action over controversial new pension regulations, despite last-minute talks with ministers to avert politically...
The Audit Commission is to slash £18m from public bodies' annual inspection bills after a review concluded that significant areas of the regulator's activities do not represent value for money.
Paul Boateng has given the green light to development work on a cost index that would accurately reflect the financial pressures faced by local authorities, Public Finance has learned.
People are being attracted back to Britain's cities by better buildings and public services, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott told urban planners this week.
Government grant for local authority Private Finance Initiative schemes will move to an annuity-based system, in an effort to level the playing field with other forms of capital finance.
Radical plans to devolve control of services to neighbourhoods and reshape the landscape of local government have been launched this week, as Cabinet ministers gathered in Manchester for the...
The Wanless franchise keeps on growing. Not content with producing two influential reports on future NHS funding and public health, the former NatWest chief executive this week announced he is...
The Office for National Statistics must be granted the same independence from political interference as the National Audit Office if public confidence in the UK's economic data is to be restored, a...
Government plans to move thousands of Whitehall staff away from the Southeast received a minor boost this week when Birmingham emerged as the city favoured to host the proposed Gambling Commission.
Work and Pensions Secretary Alan Johnson this week suspended plans to axe 25% of staff at the troubled Child Support Agency, but in the process reignited the row over government plans to cut 80,000...
Senior backbench MPs are demanding greater transparency over Sir Peter Gershon's efficiency targets amid concerns that advice from public spending watchdogs about achieving savings has been kept...
Local government is being forced to choose between paying its staff equally or delivering essential services, Unison general secretary Dave Prentis claimed this week.
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...
