Labour reaffirmed its faith in the Private Finance Initiative this week when local government minister Hilary Armstrong unveiled 14 new schemes, totalling £300m.
The government has opened the multi-million pound schools' IT market to a wider range of private companies, including Internet developers and film-makers, to try to increase competition and raise...
Councils must be given 'freedom and flexibility' to help deliver the government's ten-year strategy to renew deprived neighbourhoods, the Local Government Association warned this week.
London Transport's chief executive has admitted to MPs that London Underground would still face a 'funding gap' if the proposed £8bn public-private partnership went ahead.
Software supplier Microsoft and management consultant the Barony Group have launched a blueprint to help local authorities reach the government's targets for electronic delivery of services.
Scotland's largest public-private partnership scheme to rebuild Glasgow's secondary schools would not have been affordable without additional government funding, the city's finance director told...
The government launched a stinging attack on the quality of adoption services this week in what could be the first move to loosen local authorities' grip on social services.
The government has offered high-performing councils a 'third way' to hang on to housing stock, as registered social landlords were put on course to become the dominant housing providers by 2004.
The finance director of the largest local authority in England has questioned the value-for-money justification for public-private partnerships and admitted that she has doubts about the cost...
Money meant for frontline council services is being used to fund an ever-burgeoning local government pension bill instead. Local authorities in England and Wales spent almost £2bn in 1998/99 on...
The health service's financial problems look set to deepen, with health authorities and hospitals predicting major deficits for 2000/01, despite ministers' hopes of a return to financial balance.
The government this week promised £10m in emergency aid to local authorities coping with large numbers of asylum seekers, but Home Office ministers backtracked on a promise to take responsibility for...
Council tax bills across England and Wales are predicted to rise by an average of 6.3% to £837 for band D properties in 2000/01 about three times the rate of inflation.
A new training programme has been launched by the Improvement and Development Agency (Idea) to help prepare local government managers for new political arrangements and Best Value.
A second year of modest council tax rises in Scotland was expected to be announced on March 9, with average figures within the 5% ceiling set by the Scottish Executive.
Town halls could be forced to accelerate their electronic service delivery programmes following the prime minister's pledge to get the whole of Britain on-line by 2005.
Current audit arrangements for councils, largely carried out within the public sector, keep fees down, local government minister Hilary Armstrong claimed this week.
Up to 1.3 million local government workers are set to receive a pay rise of just 3% despite warnings that councils are facing a worsening recruitment crisis.
Health minister John Denham has called on health authorities to give greater support to primary care groups (PCGs) after a Department of Health survey showed wide variations in the amount of money...
Business leaders could be directly elected to regional chambers under a proposal being considered by the government to widen the background of those determining regional policy at local level.
