One of the biggest criticisms levied at Sir Peter Gershon's Whitehall efficiency review is that any sincere attempt to quantify public sector waste has been lost in the resulting 'machismo' exhibited...
Liberal Democrats have distanced themselves from proposals they fear could lead to a more market-driven approach in the key campaigning areas of health and education.
Local government's pension scheme moved up the political agenda this week when Britain's biggest union, Unison, threatened to strike over changes to retirement plans.
The public thinks more choice in public services is important. But the majority of people are not willing to pay more to get it, and they consider that it is needed in some services more than others.
Scotland's permanent secretary has called on the Civil Service Commission to investigate the role of civil servants criticised in the Fraser report on the Holyrood Parliament.
Ministers have launched a drive to tackle joblessness and social exclusion in the same week that a £100m fund was announced to boost the economies of northern English regions.
London council leaders are calling for a more regional analysis of patterns of poverty to ensure that the government resources intended to tackle its accompanying problems are properly targeted.
Nick Raynsford has warned councils that the government is expecting even lower council tax rises next year and will not hesitate to cap those that refuse to comply.
Public service managers were this week challenged to put children's needs at the centre of their planning as the government published its blueprint for child-centred health and social care.
Regeneration minister Lord Rooker this week urged councils to work with the neighbourhood renewal agenda, after MPs said an atmosphere of 'mistrust and tension' was frustrating progress.
Housing associations have lost a long-running battle to avoid European Union procurement regulations after the UK government decided against challenging a European Commission ruling.
As councils prepare for ministerial pronouncements on the implementation of the Gershon agenda, Unison, Britain's biggest union, has expressed fears that the target of £6.5bn of savings by 2008 could...
Prime Minister Tony Blair's harmonious relations with Britain's unions disintegrated within hours of his speech to the Trades Union Congress in Brighton, when the leaders of 11 public sector unions...
Public service reform is being undermined by a civil service inherently resistant to change and lacking in specialised skills, according to the Demos think-tank.
Audit Commission chief executive Steve Bundred believes CIPFA's proposed merger would help restore public confidence in the profession following a series of scandals.
Local authorities must pay higher fees to care homes if they want to staunch the loss of beds, researchers have warned, after almost 10,000 disappeared in 2003/04.
Arm's-length management organisations could be given control of local authority homes in a move that could lead to full privatisation of council housing stock.
The Local Government Association has pledged that poor or weak performing councils will be a thing of the past by 2007 as part of a bold bargaining agenda to extract more freedoms from Whitehall.
Affordable early years education remains out of reach for too many families despite impressive levels of government investment, senior MPs said this week.
Local authorities believe Best Value is achieving significant improvements to services but there is still widespread dissatisfaction with the accompanying inspection regime, according to new research.
Prime Minister Tony Blair marked his return from his summer break by stepping up Labour's campaign against antisocial behaviour and promoting councils' new powers in the fight against 'louts'.
Applications by council tenants to buy their homes have plummeted since the government slashed discounts in London and the Southeast, new figures reveal.
