Two senior government ministers have set out to find a cure for the plague of form-filling and local government is due to be one of the chief beneficiaries.
An improvement agency covering the whole of the public sector in Scotland could be set up, following the publication next month of a report by the Best Value Taskforce.
The Local Government Association has accused education minister Estelle Morris of 'scaremongering' after she warned that a further 15 local authorities might have their services privatised in a drive...
The government's crackdown on fraud in the National Health Service started in earnest this week with new powers for the NHS Tribunal to disqualify practitioners who have committed fraud.
The new team to promote the Private Finance Initiative will help councils overcome any skill shortages that may stop them pressing ahead with schemes, finance directors have been told.
The chief secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Smith, is to create a series of Service Delivery Agreements spanning the whole of government, he reveals in this week's Public Finance .
The government will put local government political reorganisation on the fast track next week when it publishes the bill that will pave the way for directly elected mayors.
A major boost to the Private Finance Initiative in housing came this week with the government's announcement of four PFI schemes, totalling £185m, for the refurbishment of council houses.
Scottish council leaders have called for a fundamental review of performance indicators (PIs) after the Accounts Commission issued its latest set of criteria this week.
The rateable values of properties in Scotland are set to rise by 13% while in England the increase could be 22%, a survey of work on next year's revaluation has shown.
Only a small number of primary care trusts (PCTs) may be formed next year, following the British Medical Association's insistence that the new bodies should receive support from at least two-thirds...
Local government employers and their recognised trades unions signed a partnership agreement this week guaranteeing greater consultation with employees and their representatives throughout the Best...
Local health schemes, such as the development of diabetes care or minor injuries units, face the axe as a result of the government's change of direction on funding.
Winning money for new recruits from the crime-fighting fund could be conditional on police authorities signing up to the new national communications project.
Civil service unions are set to agree a ground-breaking 'partnership agreement' with the Cabinet Office and Treasury which offers guarantees of consultation on management changes in return for...
