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.
The government successfully defused the expected row over privatisation at the annual Labour Party conference in Brighton this week with the launch of a three-month review of Best Value in local...
Ministers should take account of local factors before dismissing chief executives of failing NHS trusts, according to a public sector management expert.
Local Government Secretary Stephen Byers' promise to conduct a review of the Best Value regime, made at this week's Labour Party conference in Brighton, will be music to the ears of many of those who...
Union leaders warned this week that ministers had 'no mandate' to privatise the public services and urged the government to give up its 'disastrous' experiment with the private sector.
Labour's part-privatisation plans for the London Underground face further public scrutiny after an influential parliamentary committee said it would investigate whether the government's proposed...
Housing associations should not use rent restructuring as an excuse for failing to reinvest surpluses in their stock, housing minister Lord Falconer told the conference.
The Liberal Democrats have demanded an immediate moratorium on all NHS Private Finance Initiative schemes and greater scrutiny of private sector involvement in the public services.
Housing stock transfers have become too process-driven and do not provide enough choice for tenants, social landlords at the National Housing Federation conference in Birmingham were told.
A surprise bill to grant local authorities more freedom to borrow in an attempt to placate unions and put public services on a more 'level playing field' with the private sector will be severely...
Public sector trade union Unison has hailed the collapse of a £100m deal between Kent County Council and Hyder Business Services as a watershed in public-private partnerships that could ultimately...
Nearly half of all council services that have had a Best Value inspection have been judged unlikely to improve or worse, according to the Audit Commission.
New social landlords set up following stock transfers from local councils are being warned against relying on former housing department staff to fill their leading posts.
The government has failed to convince the public that it has delivered improvements in public services, even though public sector managers believe progress has been made.
