Local government is still plagued with 'severe' recruitment and retention problems that are placing unmanageable burdens on staff, forcing councils to privatise services because they cannot afford to...
The London Borough of Ealing has had its Comprehensive Performance Assessment upgraded from 'weak' to 'fair' after the Audit Commission was forced to admit the authority had been wrongly evaluated.
The European Union's investigation into fraud in the Committee of the Regions, the body that represents Europe's local and regional government, is a 'storm in a teacup', a leading member claimed this...
The Fire Brigades Union has urged employers to 'look again' at independent proposals to end the firefighters' dispute after members rejected the 'full and final' offer this week.
Labour launched its local election campaign this week focusing on its improvements to public services, measures to tackle antisocial behaviour and the threat of Tory spending cuts.
Deputy Prime...
Fifteen more councils have told the government they want to create arm's-length management organisations to oversee their housing.
Demand for places on the third round of the Almo programme, which...
Gordon Brown has the reputation of a chancellor who likes to spring surprises when he steps up to the dispatch box to deliver his Budget statement.
But this year the surprise came at the expense...
MPs this week launched a scathing attack on the government's complex community regeneration initiatives, claiming that Whitehall has too much control over the budgets for local schemes.
The Commons...
Twenty-two luminaries from the world of local government are to scrutinise how Whitehall funds town halls, as the balance of funding review finally got under way this week.
Local government...
An attempt by some Unison activists to block the government's overhaul of the NHS pay system failed this week, although rank-and-file members will have the final say on whether the initiative goes...
The Home Office has rejected the key recommendation from an inspection of asylum seeker detention centres that children should not be held for longer than seven days.
Chief inspector of prisons...
Gordon Brown opened a new front in the government's ongoing battles with trade unions this week when he used his Budget statement to indicate a move towards regional pay settlements.
Local government minister Nick Raynsford this week provided further details of his long-awaited overhaul of councillors' allowances, giving authorities the chance to set their own remuneration deals...
Government reform of unemployment services, announced in this week's Budget, could lead to 'widespread short-termism' across the sector, the leading civil servants' union has claimed.
Officials at...
Government ministers have agreed to alter the Bill paving the way for regional assemblies to ensure referendum ballots have a separate question on the issue of local government reorganisation....
Hopes have been raised for a resolution of the dispute over the proposed GP contract after a deal guaranteeing minimum incomes was struck this week.
A ballot of the UK's family doctors was...
Transport for London's new head of street management, Peter Hendy, opened a can of worms last week when he mused on whether local authorities would bother to introduce congestion charging if the...
Britain's largest teaching union has signalled its intention to take industrial action if the government pushes ahead with plans to allow unqualified staff to take classes.
The National Union of...
Weaknesses in the Department for Work and Pensions' computer system hamper efforts to increase the take-up of benefits among elderly people, the Public Accounts Committee has said.
Between £930m...
Lethargic planning departments will not be allowed to stand in the way of new housing in Southeast England, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has warned councils.
He said: 'We can't be in a...
Council tenants wishing to buy their homes under the right to buy scheme will need to have lived in the house for five years instead of two in future, the government announced this week.
The...
The Comprehensive Performance Assessment system is to undergo major reform before the next round of full local government inspections in three years' time.
The Liberal Democrats pledged to abolish council tax and replace it with a locally set income tax, as they launched their campaign on March 31 for the May council elections.
Local government...
The Prison Service is missing out on potential savings because its procurement procedures are too fragmented, according to the National Audit Office.
The public spending watchdog found that while...
Neglect by the former Railtrack has landed its public interest successor with a soaring infrastructure bill.
Network Rail's business plan, published on March 31, showed that maintenance, operating...
