Is New Labour's modernisation agenda for public services anywhere near endgame? Tony Travers surveys the progress so far and asks whether a Brown government should slow down or speed up the pace of...
It seems the NHS is now safe in everyone's hands. But while its founding principles remain intact it will have to undergo radical surgery to keep up with twenty-first century demands, argues former...
Cost-consciousness in the English NHS has led to a 29% rise in emergency readmission rates for all age groups, Public Finance has been told. Ministers pledged to examine the figures.
The Scottish National Party has added to its success in becoming the minority government at Holyrood by winning influential positions of power locally.
Some London councils are failing to support housing associations' development schemes, relying on neighbouring boroughs to house families on their waiting lists, a report claimed this week.
Former chancellor Kenneth Clarke has stood for the Tory leadership three times but his failure has not dampened his political activism, he tells Joseph McHugh
Public sector housing bodies have responded positively to the Disability Discrimination Act and routinely upgrade homes to suit the needs of disabled people in contrast to private sector landlords...
Trade unions have hailed as 'long overdue' the government's announcement that it is to draw up a consistent pay and conditions framework for the support staff working in England's schools.
Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney has told council leaders he wants to freeze council tax bills from 2008 prior to introducing a local income tax.
Councils should be given more say in the reconfiguration of hospitals, but they must thrash out concerns over hospital sites with neighbouring local authorities, according to the Institute for Public...
A major rethink is needed on the government's reform programme. Central to that is the concept of 'public value' and new ways of getting public sector workers on board. Brendan Barber outlines a...
Ahead of taking up the premiership, Gordon Brown has promised a redistribution of power down from central to local government. Is this just fantasy politics or will the new PM deliver the goods?
The recent UK-wide elections have highlighted the fact that there is not one NHS but four. Noel Plumridge examines what binds the different health services and what sets them apart
The government's legal reforms have given local authorities more flexibility to deliver services in the most efficient way, with initiatives such as the London Authorities' Mutual Ltd insurance...
Pre-school intervention programmes reap huge rewards for society. But the government needs to use the next Comprehensive Spending Review to do some joined-up funding of local initiatives, argues...
Men living in England and Wales' poorest wards suffer poor health and disability for 5.5 years longer on average than those in the richest wards, according to the Office for National Statistics.
It might be a brick too far to herald the return of the council house, but a Gordon Brown government will, it seems, recognise the need to provide more social housing, and be on the lookout for new...
Plans to set up seven 'super-councils' in Northern Ireland are to be re-examined. This paves the way for the formation of a larger number of authorities and a delay in their establishment until 2011.
The political battle over academy schools will intensify next week, when a leading think-tank publishes data indicating that institutions that control their own admissions procedures are increasingly...
