The government is to investigate the scale and nature of the private sector's role in delivering public services, as figures revealed that they now provide £44bn worth.
Senior backbench MPs are calling on ministers to introduce independent audits of public service quality to ensure it does not suffer from the 'stretching and highly ambitious' efficiency targets set...
Urban fire authorities this week warned that national 'resilience capability' could be diminished unless ministers agree to freeze changes which would cut £30m from their budgets.
Love it or loathe it, the PFI has been a part of the public sector for more than a decade. But with changes in government policies and in its accounting treatment, what future, if any, does it have...
When the Home Office accounts were disclaimed by the National Audit Office, it was symptomatic of a wider malaise. The only cure was a complete turnround in the way the department handled its...
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has announced a 'major acceleration' of the programme that allows local authorities to hand over surplus or disused buildings to community organisations for a token...
Local authorities that back government plans to increase house building will receive £732m to fund better community services over the next three years.
English councils outside the capital are set to clash with their London counterparts as local authorities scrabble for resources in a tight fiscal climate.
When the winners of the first phase of the Department for Work and Pensions' Pathways to Work contracts were announced in September, the sense of disappointment among voluntary organisations was...
Councils can drive down costs and improve the quality of their services by increasing their use of competition and market mechanisms, according to the Audit Commission.
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills is one half of the most challenging education upheaval yet. Will it provide firm foundations for further and higher education and boost the UK...
A report this month showed that councils are still dragging their feet when it comes to trading and charging. Even the government is getting exasperated at their refusal to make the most of their...
There are big ambitions for the Comprehensive Area Assessment: for it to judge how well councils are serving their communities, and for it to be a more nimble form of inspection than its predecessor...
The PFI has proved its worth in many projects, large and small, but it is not the only funding game in town particularly when flexibility is needed. Nick Prior explains
From public sector productivity to migration, official statistics have rarely been so hotly contested. Tony Travers analyses the reasons for the party-political punch-ups
Local government minister John Healey has revealed 11 areas that will act as 'troubleshooters' for the introduction of new partnerships to improve local services under Whitehall's devolution agenda.
