Widespread private provision of acute care in England came a step nearer at the end of last week and brought with it the inevitable debate on privatisation and dire warnings for the future of the NHS.
The Audit Commission has launched a broadside against the government's profusion of nationally set targets for local services, warning that they can distort priorities and lead to 'perverse...
Electricity distributors' contingency plans are not yet robust enough to deal effectively with all aspects of a major power failure should severe weather hit the UK again this winter, the Department...
Plans to extend body-piercing regulation to all local authorities in England and Wales have been criticised as 'wishy-washy' by one London authority, which has overseen the practice for more than a...
The NHS Confederation has called for a fundamental review of night-time health services after a study showed doctors waste much of their time performing menial tasks.
The personnel swaps between central and local government continued this week with Improvement and Development Agency deputy John O'Brien announcing his move to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Labour members on the Local Government Association have lost seven seats to the Conservatives across its executive committees to reflect proportional changes after May's local elections.
A three-star NHS trust said this week it was confident it would reduce pressure on staff after becoming the first employer to be given a health and safety improvement notice over work-related stress.
Housing experts have warned ministers not to become over-reliant on the multibillion pound house-building scheme across key 'growth areas' of the Southeast announced this week, claiming it should not...
Waltham Forest council leader Tony Buckley is set to lose his job after national Labour Party officials suspended him for failing to turn around one of the worst performing authorities in the country...
The government's attempt to defuse long-standing criticisms of the Private Finance Initiative by tackling some of its more obvious flaws has been greeted with suspicion by the public sector trade...
Government plans to introduce NHS foundation trusts were hanging in the balance despite this week's narrow victory, after a furious Commons' debate on the issue.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has suspended two senior regeneration officers following allegations of large-scale misuse of public funds at organisations linked to two borough councillors....
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has launched a massive road-building programme and signalled that the government's long-term aim is road pricing.
Darling said: 'On any view, existing capacity...
The Local Government Association's hunt for a successor to Neil Kinghan has been thrown into disarray after top Treasury mandarin Adam Sharples turned down the job, Public Finance has learned....
The possibility of a merger of the ombudsman services for local authorities, central government and health has receded indefinitely, local government ombudsman Tony Redmond has complained in his...
Network Rail has announced plans to cut £1.3bn off its spending by 2006/07 through efficiency savings equivalent to 20% of its costs.
The company issued its business plan in March, in which it...
Imposed targets and growing local autonomy must proceed hand-in-hand to improve public services, a study of some of England's best councils concludes.
The Improvement and Development Agency,...
A 'fuel poverty' scheme has misdirected millions of pounds of public money, and its eligibility rules bear no clear relation to applicants' need, a National Audit Office review has found.
The NAO...
