Annual budgets, monitored monthly, are inappropriate in many fast-moving parts of the public sector. They could learn from the 'flexible business management' approach recently adopted by the IDA
The Conservatives have not just got a new logo but a brand new set of policies. Both might be a bit sketchy, but have they got the potential to grow into something more meaningful? Alex Klaushofer...
Gordon Brown's plans to devolve more executive power offer a real chance of opening up debate over government spending, starting with the Comprehensive Spending Review. But Colin Talbot somehow...
As the Labour Party gathers for a tumultuous annual conference, Madeleine Bunting and Simon Parker ask what almost ten years of Blairism has really meant for public services. And how can New Labour...
Sir Michael Lyons has insisted that he has not ruled out relocalising the business rate but admitted that it was not the answer to the problem of local government funding.
The Liberal Democrats successfully shrugged off their image as a high tax-and-spend party after members endorsed radical proposals that shift the focus of taxation from income to wealth and pollution.
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has removed the symbolic ceiling on private sector involvement in the NHS but has also conceded an important element of finance policy that experts say will curtail...
Almost 3,500 public sector care home places for elderly and disabled people were lost last year and fewer than one third were replaced by independent provision, a report says.
Social exclusion minister Hilary Armstrong this week warned local authorities and government departments that they must improve the way they deliver services to Britain's most vulnerable groups or...
The Department of Health has indicated that it wishes all NHS trusts to move towards the more market-orientated financial system currently experienced only by foundation trusts.
Public sector employment in Scotland has risen by 11% since devolution, with the largest increase in local government, latest statistics have revealed.
More than 10% of social care posts were unfilled in September 2005, an increase of 0.6% from 2001, a survey commissioned by the Local Government Association has found.
All the main parties are looking to voluntary organisations to deliver more public services. Stuart Etherington warns that the sector will be wanting a lot more in return
Local and central government are under intense scrutiny, as a plethora of inquiries and reviews get set to report by the end of the year. But with near-civil war gripping the government, how likely...
Housing finance is all at sixes and sevens, what with the new DCLG secretary reassessing policies, a range of reviews and reform pilots on the go and the Comprehensive Spending Review just around...
Certain services and lower-value contracts have always been exempt from the European Union's procurement directive. But fresh guidance now requires even these to be publicly advertised
The new head of the Local Government Information Unit aims to ensure that the think-tank plays a leading role in reform of the sector, he tells Joseph McHugh
Children's needs involve broader issues than exam results and school performance. A new inspection system assesses the way they are dealt with holistically. Shane Flynn looks at the results
Town halls need to turn their attention to the practicalities of reconfiguration should local government boundaries be redrawn, consultants are warning.
The Local Government Association is embarking on a root-and-branch review of its operation as it prepares to confront a new era in town hall administration.
A local authority remains confident of transferring 18,000 homes to a new social landlord, although the government has ruled out its bid for £135m of extra funding.
The future of more than 50 pan-London community services remains in doubt, as the Association of London Government examines proposals to cut grants to voluntary and community organisations by up to a...
