The joint government/trade union body the Public Services Forum has swung into action to set up two panels to assess problematic sickness absence and diversity issues.
A democracy needs to be sure that the figures on which decisions are made are accurate and do not mask a hidden agenda. The Statistics Commission chair would like to see safeguards enshrined in law
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's review of the local government grant formula must take greater account of the extra cost of providing essential public services to far-flung rural...
The head of the government body set up to encourage private investment in primary care trust accommodation has confirmed that the government is 'pushing' the initiative as a way of increasing private...
Sir Andrew Turnbull this week delivered his final speech as Cabinet secretary, calling for further Whitehall reforms and attacking critics who questioned civil service values under his stewardship.
Gordon Brown might mean what he says, but does he say what he means? The government's Alice in Wonderland approach to its Spending Review timings has a lot more to do with politics than economics
A new report has found local authorities wanting in their financial management and governance. But the figures do not tell the whole story, and there are solid foundations on which to build...
You wouldn't know it, but the NHS Plan had its fifth birthday this week. There were no celebrations and ministers ignored the occasion. So what ever happened to this 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity...
The new head of the NHF will be seeing his Edinburgh home only at weekends from now on. But that's a small price to pay for a man with a mission, he tells Neil Merrick
Although public sector bodies have adopted tough safeguards against fraud in recent years, many staff believe these exist on paper only. But now there is a toolkit to help put these policies into...
The Office of Government Commerce's trading arm this week reported that it had made efficiency savings worth £321m on £2bn worth of procurement deals during 2004/05.
The Audit Commission has published its first Comprehensive Performance Assessments of fire authorities and judged just under half of them to be high performers.
Carol Gilby, who was suspended as chief executive of North East Derbyshire District Council after falling out with the political leadership, is to return to her job after being exonerated by an...
Councils and housing associations should be able to decide which properties can be sold under a new government scheme to extend home ownership, according to the Chartered Institute of Housing.
England's councils could exceed their £1.2bn efficiency target for 2005/06, according to a comprehensive study of 152 local authorities by IPF, the commercial arm of CIPFA.
London won the right to stage the 2012 Olympics on the strength of the legacy that it will leave behind for deprived areas such as east London. So will transport, housing and other facilities be...
The Local Authority Business Growth Incentive scheme is a good idea on paper rewarding councils for increasing their business tax base. But they would get the benefits faster through the annual...
I think I feel a primary care shake-up coming on. The government is finally turning its attention from hospitals to family doctor services, says Noel Plumridge. Its mission? To bring back patient-...
Wellbeing rather than narrow concerns about efficiency looks set to be the next big thing for policy makers. Phil Swann explores the meaning of public value
Most of the NHS foundation hospitals have begun to use their new powers to borrow and invest, and are financially sound. But government policy on the next steps in their development needs to be...
