Years of financial mismanagement and political chaos have earned the London Borough of Hackney the dubious distinction of being the first local authority to face a central government takeover.
New social landlords set up following stock transfers from local councils are being warned against relying on former housing department staff to fill their leading posts.
The government's £2bn New Deal for Communities programme is helping to cut crime rates and boost the local economy in some areas, the first annual review has shown.
Public sector spending on IT is set to soar by 13% per annum for each of the next two years, according to a survey from Kew Associates and Computer Weekly magazine. Total spend by the public sector...
The government launched its blueprint for the future of secondary schools this week, granting ministers reserve powers to curtail failing schools while promising high performers new freedoms.
The Employers Organisation is demanding a 'joined-up' approach to public sector pay negotiations after this year's talks left many authorities facing a wages bill they cannot afford.
Scottish local authorities face a major reorganisation of backroom functions such as payroll and council tax collection as ministers increase the pressure for more joined-up work between councils.
The Commission for Health Improvement has handed out its fiercest criticism yet of a hospital trust, declaring the Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust in Surrey as in urgent need of improvement.
The long-running dispute between private care homeowners and local authorities in Scotland has ended, following an agreement to set up an independent review group to examine funding.
Fifteen local authorities have been asked to explain successive high increases in council tax, as ministers restated their readiness to impose some form of spending controls in future years.
The foot and mouth crisis looks set to become the agricultural version of the Millennium Dome fiasco as the National Audit Office launches an investigation into the government's handling of the...
The government has announced the locations of the first 16 centres of vocational excellence which are designed to boost young people's skills in fields where there are job vacancies.
The Queen's golden jubilee next year will give 20 towns across Britain the chance to compete for the coveted status of cities, the government has announced.
Pilot schemes to test methods of electronic voting will be set up in time for the 2002 local elections in an effort to encourage disenchanted voters to re-engage with politics.
In what has been described as a 'near revolutionary' step, the government has reopened the debate on the unfunded police and fire pension schemes and raised the possibility of meeting pension costs...
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city riven by divisions. On one side are hip Labour councillors ready to plough as much as £488,000 into a youth culture event, the Love Parade.
The Northern Ireland Assembly's finance and personnel committee gave a surprise endorsement to the Private Finance Initiative and other forms of public-private partnerships in a report published this...
Fraud Squad officers have been called in to investigate financial irregularities in the Scottish Borders Council (SBC), as the authority's internal inquiry into a near-£4m overspend nears its...
Sir Andrew Foster will take over as head of the Best Value Inspectorate after Wendy Thomson was poached by 10 Downing Street to head up a new team advising Tony Blair on public service reform.
Local Government Secretary Stephen Byers has signalled the roll-out of local Public Service Agreements to all top-tier authorities by announcing £300m of unsupported credit approvals (UCAs) for...
The royal household has slashed the amount it spends on travel by two-thirds since it began making its own arrangements, the National Audit Office has revealed.
