Work across 200 public bodies could be affected by next week's strike by civil servants, but ministers are standing firm over the Whitehall reform agenda that has fuelled staff anger.
Councils with social care responsibilities are anticipating increasing council tax by an average of just 3.6% in 2007/08 a 1% drop on last year despite claiming a funding 'crisis' for adult care...
Councillors will be allowed to address local meetings on issues in which they have a personal interest, under plans floated this week by Local Government Secretary Ruth Kelly.
Nobody was too surprised by the government's plan to create a new agency to take charge of housing and regeneration in England within the next two years.
The public would prefer health service managers made decisions about which treatments should be offered by the NHS, rather than MPs or local councillors, according to an NHS Confederation survey.
Council tax bills in Scotland have risen by an average of nearly 60% in cash terms over the past ten years, a local government finance report has revealed.
Are decades of planning laws about to be reversed in a free-for-all that will carpet England's green belts with out-of-town megastores? Peter Hetherington weighs up the evidence on the Barker review
Who would have thought it? NHS Resource Accounting and Budgeting has suddenly got the media excited. And there's plenty more fancy footwork where that came from. Andy McKeon explains how the Rab...
Ministers have promised to speed up the payment of equipment grants to help elderly and disabled people who live at home, following an independent review.
A new multi-billion pound agency will take charge of housing and regeneration in England within the next two years, the government confirmed this week.
Social care minister Ivan Lewis has responded to last week's damning report on social care for older people by calling for a 'new, fair settlement' between the state and individuals.
What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, the then Audit Commission chair James Strachan was reserved in his praise for councils' financial management. Shortly afterwards, he unexpectedly...
Ministers should reconsider their outsourcing plans, a welfare expert warned this week, amid evidence that many organisations providing employment and training services are failing people with...
Tony Blair this week called for a wholesale renegotiation of the contract between the citizen and the state as he launched the next phase of his root-and-branch review of public policy.
A leading council chief has condemned as 'bizarre' the decision to exclude schools from the list of public bodies required to co-operate with Local Area Agreements.
Local authorities must make residents understand the connection between taxation and services, and exercise spending restraint, to reverse public anger over rising council tax, according to local...
The game is up for the Child Support Agency. But will its new replacement do a better job at collecting the missing billions of pounds in maintenance? Paul Gosling investigates
Public sector bodies look set to face new rules and responsibilities as part of the government's attempt to cut carbon emissions. Proposals now out for consultation offer both challenges and...
The local government white paper promised a bright new future for 'radical and devolutionary reform'. But the process has already been short-circuited, argues Tim Thorogood
The government's IT record came under fire again this week as ministers delayed the problematic local government strategy and a controversial consortium retained a £4bn defence contract.
The social care inspectorate has called for an urgent national debate into whether or not the state should continue to provide preventative social care to disabled and frail adults.
Supporters say social enterprises marry private efficiency with public values, offering innovative low-cost, high-quality services. But a wider definition of value for money is needed to get the best...
'Choice-based letting' allows social housing applicants to choose where they want to live, rather than have officials decide for them. And soon it will be available in every English council. Neil...
Public Service Agreements were meant to keep track of what departments do with taxpayers' money. The problem is that no-one, least of all MPs, pays them much attention. Colin Talbot and Carole...
