There's much to please local authorities in the white paper, particularly in terms of deregulation and decentralisation. But real devolution, letting councils decide local priorities, is still a long...
Launching the report of his inquiry into local government finance in Scotland, Sir Peter Burt the current chair of ITV repeated several times what he saw as a main attraction of his proposed new...
Political consensus is emerging over the government's hefty welfare reform agenda, outlined in the Queen's Speech, with opposition parties claiming that planned changes are overdue rather than...
Far from being on its way out, the Private Finance Initiative has never been in ruder health. As well as strengthening its role in health and education, it is elbowing its way into new areas such as...
Council tax in Scotland should be replaced by a new property tax requiring householders to pay 0.9% of the value of their home annually, the Burt committee on the future of local government finance...
Town halls this week set out their wish list for economic devolution within the context of the sector's white paper urging ministers to establish new funding streams for sub-regional transport,...
A leading Whitehall contractor was this week accused of breaking employment rules when it announced more compulsory redundancies involving civil service jobs that are being taken offshore.
Wales was always bound to go its own distinctive way on the issue of public service reform. Now, as the Welsh Assembly Government prepares to respond to his review, Sir Jeremy Beecham explains why
Council rents are expected to rise by up to 5% after the government announced that local authorities will receive an extra £132m for managing and maintaining their homes.
There are still too many examples of poor data-sharing between government and its agencies, argues the social exclusion minister. Vulnerable people should have to give their details to only one arm...
It's one thing to demand that local authorities prove they have achieved desired outcomes, but quite another to do it. Arthur Midwinter argues for a more realistic approach to performance measurement...
Schemes that offer council tenants more choice over where to live are saving money because families are more likely to stay in their home longer, new research reveals.
Delegates to next week's annual social services conference are still reeling from the last round of organisational shake-ups. Now there is more change on the way, with a new children's green paper...
The chancellor and the NHS are on a collision course with unions after suggesting that next year's pay rises should not break the government's 2% inflation target.
The Lyons Inquiry will have to find a way to make council tax fairer without the benefit of a revaluation of English homes. Peter Kenway and Ines Newman go back to basic principles and explain how...
