The Home Office's failure to have its accounts in good working order was 'inexcusable', its permanent secretary told a Treasury and CIPFA-hosted symposium on financial management in London on...
Chancellor Alistair Darling's forecasts for the public finances are too optimistic and painful choices are needed to get them back on track, despite higher-than-expected tax receipts, leading...
A Whitehall error has meant two London councils will lose special funding they were promised in the provisional local government finance settlement last year.
The Labour government's U-turns on fiscal change have left Britain with high, complicated taxes in an uncertain climate, says shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Philip Hammond. He argues that...
Three-year spending plans that happen every two years; greater accountability promises that actually sideline Parliament Comprehensive Spending Reviews are looking more like science fiction than a...
The credit crunch scored a first this week, the nationalisation of a bank. But behind the scenes it is also having a serious impact on public sector pension schemes and proposed PFI projects. Paul...
Almost half of public sector employers expect to make staff redundant over the next three months, a survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has revealed.
France is struggling, like us, to cut back its public sector and devote more resources to the front line. But she would be wise to learn from the British experience before adopting our policies...
Despite receiving real-terms funding increases, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills is busy making value-for-money savings, with science and second-chance students among the losers...
Scotland's largest local authority is to shed more than 400 posts following its decision to freeze council tax in line with the policy of the Scottish government.
Public bodies in Wales must stop putting their own needs first and instead focus on meeting the expectations of citizens for quality services, the minister in charge has warned.
The future of the Scottish National Party government led by First Minister Alex Salmond was secured when its first budget was approved by MSPs this week.
The centre of government has been given a make-over, with new policy advisers and even a permanent secretary at Number 10. But they're no nearer to finding Brown's big idea, says Tony Travers
New Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell has vowed to press ahead with the radical welfare reforms set out by former investment banker David Freud.
The new Department for Children, Schools and Families, headed by secretary of state Ed Balls, is nothing if not ambitious, with a ten-year plan that encompasses all aspects of children's lives. But...
The government will find itself under pressure to top up public sector spending if it is to meet its policy commitments, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has predicted in its annual 'green budget'.
The government has ordered a review of the eligibility criteria for adult social care services, after a report by the Commission for Social Care Inspection warned that hundreds of thousands of...
Extra money for health, housing and higher education was announced by the Northern Ireland finance minister, the Democratic Unionists' Peter Robinson, as he finalises his Budget for 2008/09.
