The current review of local government finance in Scotland must be conducted in concert with the wider reform of services, senior public finance officials have warned.
Scottish councils should manage their financial reserves now totalling more than £1bn to help cut council tax bills, the Accounts Commission has advised.
NHS foundation trusts have been stuck in the middle of the government split between 'modernisers' and 'consolidators', unable to achieve true financial independence. So reform is urgently needed
Ofsted's first ever finance director tells Vivienne Russell about his drive to bring the standards that he has fostered in local government to the inspectorate
Public sector auditors will 'significantly reduce' their scrutiny of specific service areas to focus on organisations' corporate centres, under new principles published this week.
Housing will face an extremely tough Spending Review in 2006 unless it gets into the habit of making year-on-year efficiency gains, Simon Ridley, head of housing at the Treasury, told the National...
Further education colleges will discuss the extension of the two-tier workforce agreement to their sector but have given no commitment on implementation, their representative body has told Public...
Government promises of a radical shift towards local accountability rang hollow this week after Nick Raynsford moved to cap nine authorities deemed to have set excessive council tax increases.
People will no longer languish in 'dead-end' jobs, the education secretary promised this week as she unveiled plans to extend skills training across the entire workforce.
District councils in Northern Ireland could be reduced from 26 to seven and given new legal powers under proposals published by the Review of Public Administration.
Work and Pensions Secretary Alan Johnson will chair a pensions summit next week, beginning the fresh negotiations over retirement plans promised to public sector unions following this week's...
Social landlords in the Southwest and East of England will be the main winners over the next two years after the government announced regional housing allocations totalling £5.5bn.
The MRSA superbug has struck fear into the hearts of hospital patients throughout the UK. But now, with an election expected, the government claims the health service is winning its battle against...
The Private Finance Initiative has not gone away it's just adapted to meet changing times. Mark Hellowell explores the opportunities and pitfalls in the new areas that the programme is expanding...
The Freedom of Information Act brings greater transparency about public sector spending and decision-making. But there are some grey areas, such as internal audit and fraud investigations, where...
Directly elected mayors were once ministerial flavour of the month but the policy was resoundingly rejected by voters. Now, even John Prescott has converted to the idea. David Harding reports
Ealing council was improving by leaps and bounds, the Audit Commission itself said so. So when its 'good' assessment was downgraded to 'weak', the London borough went to court and won
