A severe backlog at the new Criminal Records Bureau is adding to the recruitment crisis in local government, with crucial social services and education appointments reportedly held up in an '...
Councils that set up more than one new registered social landlord to accommodate large stock transfers have been warned against creating over-complex group structures.
Stephen Byers has intervened to end six months of stalemate in the Best Value review he initiated, imposing his own solution to the two-tier workforce problem.
London's primary care trusts must forge effective partnerships with their local authorities if they are to improve public health in the capital, the King's Fund said.
One in four councils has been running education and social services so badly that central government has had to intervene, and more cases could be on the way, according to the Audit Commission.
Government rent reforms are failing to tackle demand problems on housing estates because they focus too heavily on earnings rather than property values, housing professionals were told this week.
Local authority tenants who voted against taking part in a Private Finance Initiative scheme are to be consulted again over plans to spend £45m improving their homes.
Fraud investigators are to be appointed throughout England in response to the mounting number of complaints being received by the Learning and Skills Council.
At first glance, there is little to connect the near riot by supposed anarchists outside Barcelona's Palau de Congressos convention centre at the European Union summit last weekend and the serene,...
Labour is no closer to ending homelessness after new figures showed another rise in the number of people being housed by English councils in emergency accommodation.
More than a million extra homes must be built in the next 20 years if Britain is to avoid a major shortage of affordable housing, according to a report published this week.
Almost six months to the day since Stephen Byers announced his review of Best Value to assuage union concerns about workers' rights in outsourcing deals, progress has ground to a halt.
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.
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 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.
