A new level of ambition is needed if communities are to guarantee their viability in the low-carbon decades ahead. That's why we must find the next Chamberlains, Livingstones and Schwarzeneggers
Councils face mounting costs in meeting their 'green' obligations. There's much they can do to cut these but they still need more resources, argues Chris Wilson
Now that politicians have promoted sustainability from token policy pledge to manifesto must-have, Public Finance 's latest round table posed the question of how local authorities can save the...
The new prime minister's plan to give Parliament greater powers sounds good on paper. But, just like his predecessors, he has made major machinery-of-government changes without involving either House
Councils and other public service leaders rushed to unpick the substance of the government's forthcoming legislative plans as the prime minister broke with tradition and set out much of his programme.
Public sector pension funds are using their hefty financial clout to lobby for changes to the government's draft Climate Change Bill, claiming that ministers are not doing enough to cut CO2 emissions.
New Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has vowed to make 'localism and devolution' the watchwords of her tenure, she said in her first major speech since her appointment.
The government's Sure Start project has failed to help deprived black and ethnic minority families, according to a report for the new Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Sir Simon Milton, the new chair of the Local Government Association, believes that there are local solutions to a range of issues, from health to housing, and he is determined to fight for more...
Recent changes at the top of government present a golden opportunity for climate change to be pushed up the political agenda, a leading environmentalist said this week.
Newly appointed local government minister John Healey has pledged to forge a 'new relationship' between central and local government and to devolve extensive powers to regional and local levels.
First Minister Alex Salmond has appointed an influential group of leading academics and business leaders to sit on a new Council of Economic Advisers in Scotland.
Opponents of Britain's Private Finance Initiative ignore one rather vital fact it works. Not only does it do what it's meant to do, it does it so well that other countries are queuing up to learn...
Taking the politics out of the NHS sounds like an attractive idea. But an independent board would be bad for democracy and bad for our health, argue George Jones and John Stewart
It's been a challenging week for Team Gordon, as the new PM and his Cabinet strive to show who's in charge. Peter Riddell assesses what all the ministerial changes mean
Whitehall and wider public sector reorganisation and mergers must be based on clear rationales and not political expediency, public sector leaders have warned.
The new prime minister is an intellectual heavyweight, with strong views of his own on public policy. So where does this leave Britain's burgeoning think-tank industry? Peter Wilby reports on the...
Combating climate change is a colossal global challenge. But you have got to start somewhere. The LGIU's carbon trading scheme for councils points a way forward, as David Janner-Klausner explains
Plans to create an independent regulator for councils, housing associations and other social landlords have failed to gain immediate government support.
The Department for Communities and Local Government this week accused three councils of wasting taxpayers' money over a legal challenge against Ruth Kelly's plans for more unitary authorities.
