The new beefed-up version of the Audit Commission should be able to stop other inspectorates from poring over council services if it feels it is unnecessary, ministers are proposing.
The details of the revenue support grant settlement, expected next week, remain cloaked in mystery although local government is hopeful that ministers will have found some extra cash to alleviate...
The Home Office's finance director has urged caution in Whitehall's drive to professionalise its skills base warning senior staff not to shift roles too quickly simply to meet new training...
CPAs for Whitehall? Don't make me laugh, says Colin Talbot. Sir Gus O'Donnell's Departmental Capability Reviews for central government are far removed from the rigorous external performance...
The Home Office's finance chief is bringing a professional accounting approach to Whitehall at a time when it is under most pressure. She talks to Mark Conrad
The British civil service is rightly admired throughout the world, and yet everyone wants to 'reform' it. Tony Travers considers the skills that are needed for the thoroughly modern mandarin
Big changes are afoot in Whitehall, starting with the role of the traditional civil servant. But will this rush to 'professionalise' have the desired effect? Public Finance and Deloitte invited a...
Four candidates are vying to be the new leader of Liverpool City Council following the resignation of Mike Storey, who has been found guilty of breaking the councillors' code of conduct.
Funding increases ranging up to 2.9% for individual councils have been announced by Scottish Finance Minister Tom McCabe as part of an £8.3bn settlement for local government.
The government's Departmental Capability Reviews were this week dismissed by one of Whitehall's most respected commentators as lacking credibility because of the civil service's insistence on self-...
A single police force covering the whole of Wales could lead to more effective crime-fighting, the chief constable of South Wales told delegates at the CIPFA in Wales annual conference in Cardiff.
Government plans to replace Northern Ireland's 26 district councils with seven 'super-councils' have been attacked by local parties for reinforcing sectarian divisions.
Social care minister Liam Byrne has taken the first step towards giving elderly and disabled people budgets to buy their own care services, with the launch of 13 pilot schemes this week.
The Scottish Executive coalition has been thrown into turmoil over unintended restrictions on off-licence sales as a result of a chaotic vote in the Holyrood Parliament.
The regeneration of the Thames Gateway presents a golden opportunity to rethink how public services are designed and funded, local government and communities minister David Miliband said this week.
The prospect of a strike by 2 million staff moved a step closer this week after unions and the Employers' Organisation failed to reach an agreement over the pension age for the local government...
Registered social landlords need to use imaginative methods and lateral thinking to keep track of rent arrears. Finding ways of reducing them also requires unorthodox approaches and effective use of...
As Sir Peter Burt's committee reviews the options for a fairer local government funding system in Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council is arguing for local income tax. Charles Armstrong explains why
Voluntary sector bodies are not just talking about public service provision. They're successfully delivering it. So why is the government so slow to back up the Third Sector with long-term contracts...
Further education has been a 'forgotten middle child'. But now Sir Andrew Foster's wide-ranging review could give the £5bn sector a new mission to get the nation ready for work. Joseph McHugh asks...
Public sector organisations are racing ahead with outsourcing but all too often are dependent on just one or two suppliers. Paul Bentham says it's time to get a grip and inject a bit of...
Measuring progress on efficiency will form a significant part of the new Departmental Capability Reviews for Whitehall, launched by Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell last month.
