The CBI has hit out at government mismanagement of public procurement, which it warns is threatening ministers' ambitious plans for reforming frontline services.
Tenants should be given wide-ranging powers to scrutinise their landlords within the new regulatory system for housing associations and local authorities, according to a report.
Another day, another departmental disaster: can't the government get anything right? Colin Talbot takes an unseasonal swipe at civil service blunders and asks what's behind Whitehall's annus...
Funding for social care services for people with learning difficulties will be transferred from the NHS to local authorities as part of a wider overhaul, the government has announced.
Senior backbench MPs are calling on ministers to introduce independent audits of public service quality to ensure it does not suffer from the 'stretching and highly ambitious' efficiency targets set...
Urban fire authorities this week warned that national 'resilience capability' could be diminished unless ministers agree to freeze changes which would cut £30m from their budgets.
Love it or loathe it, the PFI has been a part of the public sector for more than a decade. But with changes in government policies and in its accounting treatment, what future, if any, does it have...
When the Home Office accounts were disclaimed by the National Audit Office, it was symptomatic of a wider malaise. The only cure was a complete turnround in the way the department handled its...
English councils outside the capital are set to clash with their London counterparts as local authorities scrabble for resources in a tight fiscal climate.
The Private Finance Initiative has come under fire for chronic delays in tendering times, lack of business and negotiating skills among public sector teams and a shortage of bidders.
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills is one half of the most challenging education upheaval yet. Will it provide firm foundations for further and higher education and boost the UK...
Despite the rhetoric, the public sector is still handcuffed by bureaucracy and targets. A better solution is performance contracting, which has worked in prisons and has the power to bring creativity...
The director of finance of the Welsh Assembly Government has come under fire following what council leaders described as an 'appalling' settlement for councils.
A flagship government policy aimed at encouraging GPs to shape local NHS services through a beefed-up commissioning role is struggling to take off, the Audit Commission has found.
MPs have condemned the Department for Communities and Local Government as 'not up to the job' of managing the Thames Gateway regeneration project amid fears of another public spending disaster.
Plans to improve thousands of council homes in London and Southeast England could be further delayed by skills shortages ahead of the 2012 Olympics, ministers are being told.
England's northern regions benefit little from the capital's economic success compared with their southern counterparts, according to a think-tank report.
Welsh council leaders hit out at an 'inadequate' settlement for local government this week, warning that council tax rises and service cuts would be inevitable.
Wales has rejected the Blair-led notion that the private sector should be a major service provider. Andrew Davies, minister for finance and public service delivery, talks to Alex Klaushofer about...
