The shadow chief secretary to the Treasury is unafraid to speak of huge Whitehall cuts in his plan for better public services. Joseph McHugh heard his battle strategy
Is our system of government in terminal decline, obsessed by spin and central control? Sir Christopher Foster, a former adviser to both Labour and Tory ministers, thinks so. He uses privatisation of...
Beefing up city and county regions might paradoxically be the most effective way of putting the local into 'new localism' in the twenty-first century, argues Gerry Stoker
A revised set of Best Value Performance Indicators for 2005/06, which deletes 14 measures and introduces ten new ones, has been agreed by local authorities and ministers.
A new code of practice will require local authorities to minimise tender costs for contract bidders and settle invoices promptly so small local firms can compete for their business.
The chair of the Public Accounts Committee will ask the National Audit Office to investigate how government departments manage their annual budgets, after it emerged that 20 out of 24 have overspent...
Schools and colleges are not doing enough to ensure that they purchase everything from photocopiers to supply teachers cost-effectively, according to the man heading education's procurement...
Despite the government's insistence that all public sector organisations should introduce regional wage variations, 'very little concrete action has been taken', a new report on pay indicates.
The Scottish Executive has published its first infrastructure investment plan, setting out a long-term, multibillion-pound scheme for improving Scotland's public services.
Local authorities are losing millions of pounds in council tax revenue each year because of inadequate collection systems, according to a study by the GMB trade union.
Public services in Scotland are delivered as part of a patchwork operation that is starting to fray. Minister Tom McCabe is stitching together a reform package that might begin with a reorganisation...
Foundation schools are being talked up as the next big thing in education. But will fast-tracking them mean more parent choice and school autonomy or a dangerous lack of accountability and...
