GP practice-based commissioning must avoid the inequalities associated with earlier experiments in primary care purchasing, the British Medical Association warned this week.
Sixty-two local authorities in 21 areas will take part in the first Local Area Agreements as Whitehall moved this week to rationalise funding and give councils a taste of new localism.
Reforming council tax and equalising the balance of funding would be priorities for a first-term Conservative administration, according to the shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman.
Many local authorities find the Bellwin scheme to defray the costs of natural disasters less than useful, according to research published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Scotland's new finance minister, Tom McCabe, has dismissed comparisons with England on efficiency in government, saying the targets set are 'appropriate for Scotland' irrespective of the figures for...
The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust pledged this week to achieve 'financial balance' by 2006, despite warnings from auditors that its £20m deficit could escalate to more than £40m.
The government will come under renewed pressure to announce a wholesale review of council housing investment after a deal to look at alternative funding options was abandoned on the eve of the Labour...
Capital spending in Scotland is to rise by 40% over the next three years, providing more than £3bn for infrastructure, Finance and Public Services Minister Andy Kerr announced this week.
A new tier of 'super-teachers' benefiting from financial incentives and specialist training should be created to teach at the most challenging schools, according to an influential committee of MPs.
One of the biggest criticisms levied at Sir Peter Gershon's Whitehall efficiency review is that any sincere attempt to quantify public sector waste has been lost in the resulting 'machismo' exhibited...
Liberal Democrats have distanced themselves from proposals they fear could lead to a more market-driven approach in the key campaigning areas of health and education.
Nick Raynsford has warned councils that the government is expecting even lower council tax rises next year and will not hesitate to cap those that refuse to comply.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's harmonious relations with Britain's unions disintegrated within hours of his speech to the Trades Union Congress in Brighton, when the leaders of 11 public sector unions...
The Local Government Association has pledged that poor or weak performing councils will be a thing of the past by 2007 as part of a bold bargaining agenda to extract more freedoms from Whitehall.
Chancellor Gordon Brown could be on a collision course with his own civil servants over possible modifications to performance-related pay deals, described by unions this week as 'radical and crude'.
Government departments are using the Private Finance Initiative to get projects off their balance sheets, rather than because it offers the best value for money, a Labour-aligned think-tank has...
Housing and local government officials have responded angrily to the government's decision to slash funding for vulnerable housing tenants by £105m, warning of 'potentially disastrous' consequences...
A-level students have again achieved record numbers of passes and top grades, triggering the ritual accusations of falling educational standards and 'dumbed down' examinations from critics.
