Chancellor Gordon Brown could be sitting on an even bigger budget surplus than anticipated because government departments are not spending their allocations, according to the Institute for Fiscal...
A last-minute £188m cash injection into this week's local government finance settlement may not be enough to head off mounting pay and service pressures, warn councils.
Local government minister Hilary Armstrong is to send a seven-strong financial hit squad into the London Borough of Hackney to help the troubled authority deal with its budget deficit.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone faces a showdown with the Greater London Assembly over his controversial budget after public clashes with members this week. Livingstone stood by his guns as he presented...
A new magazine went on sale in British hospitals this week, with the aim of raising an extra £5m to make patients' stays more comfortable. The team behind feelgood hope that sales of their glossy mix...
Housing associations which raise substantial amounts of private investment must never forget their role as public sector bodies, their regulator warned this week. In his first major speech to the...
Unison has agreed to suspend strike action in Scottish local authorities after securing a number of 'guarantees' from employers which could lead to a £5 an hour minimum wage for workers.
Staff at the London Borough of Hackney are to escalate their industrial action against the drastic cuts the council has drawn up to tackle its financial crisis
Local authorities hoping arm's length management companies will prove an attractive alternative to the wholesale transfer of council housing may face a tortuous journey setting one up
Trade union demands for a £1,000 pay rise for every council employee in England and Wales would cost local authorities £800m per year, according to their representative body.
The Scottish Executive has pledged to improve its budget process following a report by an influential committee of MSPs voicing 'serious concern' over the arrangements for the scrutiny of spending...
The Business Improvement District (Bid) approach, which uses levies on businesses to transform derelict neighbourhoods across the US, will take a step closer to becoming part of the British...
On December 11, managers at the London Borough of Hackney will learn whether the current crisis caused by a gaping hole in the budget will be compounded by a mass walkout of council staff.
The Ministry of Defence is finally beginning to get to grips with overspending on major equipment procurement projects, but its timetable for delivery is falling further into arrears, according to...
Conservative Party plans to establish a National Accounts Commission that would put public sector accounting standards in line with those of the private sector have been dismissed as 'naïve' and...
The costs of building Portcullis House, the new £230m headquarters for Westminster MPs that includes padded lifts, bronze cladding and two reception desks costing £75,000, are to be examined by the...
Ministers have altered the formula used to calculate the funding allocations for health authorities, despite a pledge that it would remain unchanged until 2002, in order to pour extra cash into...
Customs and Excise is losing up to £100m a year in lost revenue because of illegal betting and could forfeit as much or more again if the trend towards Internet and offshore betting continues,...
An audacious plan by Halton Borough Council in Cheshire to move one of England's greatest sporting landmarks Wembley's Twin Towers from London to the north west has ended in failure, sparking an...
