Health Secretary Alan Milburn has signalled a significant increase in social services spending in this summer's Spending Review but insisted it will be allied to 'radical' reforms, including the de...
Open government inched a step closer this week when the government finally accepted the recommendations of the Sharman report on audit and accountability in central government.
The Association of Police Authorities fears that the Home Office's latest initiative to reduce crime in deprived areas could be undermined by elevating national police priorities at the expense of...
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council has urged Home Secretary David Blunkett to launch an independent inquiry into the financial administration of the Cleveland Police Service, after it was revealed that...
Two-thirds of schools with sixth forms are to receive more than their guaranteed funding level in 2002/03, the Learning and Skills Council announced this week.
Ministers have again deferred a decision to impose a referendum about directly elected mayors on Birmingham, the country's largest local authority, even though they admit they are likely to force a...
Council tax bills are to soar by an inflation-busting 8.1% on average, reflecting widespread fears among authorities that their budgets are being stretched to the limit.
The architects of the controversial pension financial reporting standard (FRS) 17 this week told Public Finance that they were prepared to modify its implementation, as concern over its impact...
The government's plans to overhaul the Best Value regime and introduce comprehensive performance assessments (CPA) have been lambasted by an influential local government policy organisation.
The Liberal Democrats have declared their support for elected regional assemblies in England as a way of ending the 'quango culture' that has taken over public life.
The long-running argument over the Area Cost Adjustment (ACA) is threatening to divide local government along north versus south lines, following high-level discussions with Whitehall officials this...
Dithering by senior civil servants, including the current Cabinet secretary Sir Richard Wilson, allowed the controversial Teesside Development Corporation to run up debts of around £40m, an...
Unison this week urged the government to delay the introduction of a controversial accounting standard that it said would cause 'chaos and losses' to pension funds across the public sector after...
The public sector has to come up with more imaginative ways of managing its estates and pursue new ideas to create more housing opportunities for low-paid workers, the government warned this week.
The Local Government Association and ministers are to agree a set of shared priorities for service delivery that will act as a 'coherent framework' governing councils' activities.
The local government pay talks were hanging in the balance this week, with both sides refusing to yield an inch as the final scheduled meeting got under way.
London boroughs could lose up to £250m in central government support each year unless the council tax system is fundamentally overhauled, Public Finance has learned.
Employers and unions are calling on the government to clarify the terms under which local authority housing staff will be expected to transfer to new arm's-length management organisations (Almos).
Local government representatives have urged the government to tackle the 'grim' state of social care and fill the struggling service's £200m funding gap.
