A new hospital assessment tool, launched by the Department of Health this week, will be the catalyst for 'radical change' and possible service cuts, Public Finance has been told.
The Audit Commission this week accused Whitehall of hindering local government's efficiency by tampering with regulations that impose huge costs on councils.
Choosing spending priorities involves some tough, painful and invariably unpopular decisions. Harrow decided to put its residents in the hot seat and invigorate democracy in the process. Maria McHale...
Rhodri Morgan is every bit as evangelical as Tony Blair when it comes to improving public services. But Wales is taking a very different route from Westminster. Steve Davies reports on public sector...
Councils will be able to track more accurately their success at reviving their local economies after a new set of performance indicators were launched this week.
No agreement emerged from the first meeting aimed at resolving the dispute between employers, unions and the government over the Local Government Pension Scheme.
As the Local Government Association in England locked horns with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister over the forthcoming financial settlement, Welsh councils have already been told how much...
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Des Browne has the unenviable task of matching public expenditure to delivery. In his first major interview, he tells Joseph McHugh how he is tackling the brief
Councils that demonstrate the most imagination will be best placed to take advantage of the government's new local regeneration funds, a Treasury minister said last week.
Local authorities should help the Housing Corporation to choose which registered social landlords receive public money to build homes, housing professionals said this week.
Central and local government have agreed to patch up their differences and work together to try to keep council tax rises low following angry exchanges earlier in the week.
An 'alternative Lyons inquiry' to examine the next phase of local government modernisation and its implications for councils' finances and functions is to be launched by an influential think-tank.
Partnerships between public sector organisations risk wasting money unless there is a clear sense of what they are hoping to achieve and who is in charge, the Audit Commission warned this week.
Sixty-six MPs have signed a parliamentary motion urging Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to extend last week's surprise deal on unfunded public sector pensions to local government.
Health professionals fear that primary care trusts will still lose their function as providers, despite Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt's apparent concession on the issue this week.
The civil service should be replaced by a new organisation embracing all those involved in the management of the public sector, former top civil servant Sir Michael Bichard has suggested.
The London Borough of Merton was dreading the new-look CPA, which appeared to threaten all the improvements it had made. But it was pleasantly surprised when the final changes were revealed
