Ministers are preparing to force mayoral referendums in more than half a dozen councils next month as the momentum to get more London-style, directly elected leaders in place gathers pace.
Anecdotal stories of accident victims having to wait hours for treatment were effectively confirmed this week by an Audit Commission report that showed waiting times in hospital accident and...
Local authority trade unions have rejected outright employers' demands to give up their right to unilateral arbitration to resolve pay talks, raising the spectre of another bitter dispute this year.
Two London boroughs are considering creating neighbourhood-level service commissioning bodies, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research which is advising them.
Local government minister Nick Raynsford has dashed local authorities' hopes of early legislation giving them the freedom to borrow money for capital projects.
Councils' ability to respond to emergencies in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the US is being undermined by a lack of government funding, officials claim.
English local authorities are demanding a substantial increase in next year's finance settlement if they are to avert major service cuts and huge hikes in council tax.
The outgoing chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, Sir Alastair Morton, has told MPs that the government should seize on the demise of Railtrack as an opportunity to restructure fundamentally...
Public services were firmly back at the top of the political agenda this week as the Commons Public Administration Select Committee announced a full inquiry into the government's reform programme.
Local government minister Nick Raynsford indicated this week that a proportion of the £350m due to be allocated to councils to promote electronic government will be reserved for partnership schemes.
Health Secretary Alan Milburn announced a £2m recruitment package for social workers at the National Social Services Conference in Harrogate on October 17 19.
The Audit Commission this week unveiled a new, less damning scoring system for its Best Value inspections regime after a plethora of complaints from councils and a two-month consultation exercise.
As the prime minister embarks on his mission to change the world, it seems appropriate that his junior colleagues are left with the more mundane task of reconstructing Britain.
A £300m, two-year cash injection that will be paid directly to local authorities will go some way to relieving bed blocking, the Local Government Association said this week.
Milton Keynes Council and Northamptonshire County Council were this week pushing the boundaries of strategic partnerships after agreeing a short-list of private companies to merge their support...
The future of the Public Private Partnership Programme, local government's advisory agency, was thrown into doubt this week with the departure of its chief executive.
Shadow local government secretary Theresa May has pledged that a future Conservative administration would scrap the Government Offices for the Regions and hand their powers back to local authorities.
