The irony of Dame Janet Smith's fifth report from her long-running Harold Shipman inquiry, which last week recommended a comprehensive overhaul of the General Medical Council, is that it has little...
NHS trusts need to spend more of their budget on cleaning services, ministers said this week after it emerged that fewer than half of hospitals in England have good standards of cleanliness.
More than a third of all local authorities and three-quarters of county councils are using their new prudential borrowing powers, reveals a survey by the Local Government Association.
Housing minister Keith Hill this week responded to private sector calls to boost the lethargic social housing Private Finance Initiative market with a programme to help tenants 'get better homes...
Lone parents who rely on state benefits to top up their earnings are more likely to escape poverty than families where the main wage earner is on low pay, says new research.
Six towns have been named as growth areas in a wide-ranging blueprint for planning across Wales announced by Finance and Local Government Minister Sue Essex.
Woking Borough Council, which is borrowing £62m for housing through the prudential code, is setting up its own development company to avoid having rents revenue clawed back through the subsidy system.
Local authorities can overcome cuts in funding for vulnerable people by persuading providers of support services to accept smaller surpluses, housing professionals have been told.
Councils have been warned not to rush into court action over housing benefit arrears, after research suggested it could be more effective to refer problem tenants for independent debt advice.
The forthcoming green paper on adult social care will tackle older people's reluctance to take responsibility for their own provision, senior ministers said this week.
Local authorities and registered social landlords must find housing efficiency savings of £835m per year by 2008 under the government's strict Gershon targets.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has angered councils and trade unions by ruling out a review of how local authorities raise money to meet the decent homes target.
Some arm's-length management organisations could be forced to stop providing insurance cover to housing tenants from 2005, because of a dispute between the Treasury and the Financial Services...
Home Secretary David Blunkett continued his law and order crackdown this week, setting out plans to tackle antisocial behaviour across 50 areas blighted by louts and thugs.
Doubts have been raised over the popularity of council-owned housing companies after a London borough ditched its proposals in favour of prudential borrowing.
The Local Government Association is preparing to slash funding to its central bodies by 4.1% next year in advance of what is expected to be a tight finance settlement in November.
