Unison Scotland has accused councils of manipulating public sector comparators to win approval for Private Finance Initiative schemes, after a senior auditor said PSCs were often based on 'spurious'...
The number of elderly people being readmitted to hospital soon after discharge has risen sharply and measures designed to ease NHS bedblocking could make matters even worse.
Scottish local government leaders have endorsed Jack McConnell's future legislative programme as one that will make a 'real difference to real people'.
Last week, a political cycle was broken. The news that Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott had regained part of his old department proved that the Cabinet Office is no longer a dumping ground for has...
The government's plan to introduce three-year allocations to English primary care trusts and earmark less of the cash is a 'step in the right direction', NHS managers said last week.
Teachers' leaders have blamed rising levels of sickness among classroom staff in England on the increasing pressures they face, and claim they point to a wider problem in the profession.
The first national strike by council workers in 23 years has been pencilled in for July 17 as the local government pay dispute grew increasingly bitter this week.
Public Service Agreements should be expanded to cover the proposed regional assemblies, to give them more freedom to target resources at regional priorities, England's most senior local government...
Forty per cent of local authorities have not drawn up an anti-racism strategy, the Audit Commission has revealed just days before a government deadline expired.
External hit squads could be sent into the worst social services departments if they do not improve by November, the Department of Health confirmed this week.
Social services across the country are heading for meltdown, Unison warned this week after a report revealed social workers as the lowest-paid professional group in local government.
Images of Royal Navy warships intercepting people-traffickers in the Mediterranean and televised bulk deportations of rejected refugees in RAF transport planes are bound to trigger a reaction,...
Councils hoping to establish a better system for funding education authorities have failed to endorse a new model for redistributing the available money.
The government is understood to be considering creating a Department for Devolution in the wake of this week's rushed dissolution of the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.
The government's 'carrot and stick' approach to improving the NHS may hinder attempts to reform the service and reduce the impact of the extra £40bn promised in the Budget, according to influential...
Local government minister Nick Raynsford is adamant that Labour's electronic voting initiatives will induce a long-term improvement in electoral turnouts, despite a new report that raises question...
High-performing NHS hospitals will be released from the shackles of direct Whitehall control to give them an incentive to strive for excellence, Health Secretary Alan Milburn has promised.
Education Secretary Estelle Morris stepped into the crisis at the Criminal Records Bureau this week, granting local education authorities access to interim criminal checks to cut the delays in...
Is it ministerial refusal to bow to pressure to change the face of public sector benefits? A surprise affirmation of unions' power to influence policy? Or a deliberately vague document that hides a...
Local government leaders are fighting attempts to incorporate business rates into the revenue support grant, a move that would extinguish all hope of their return to town hall control.
The Local Government Association has warned that its acceptance of the government's proposals for the English regions hinges on there being 'a genuine devolution of power from Whitehall'.
Campaigners opposed to the Private Finance Initiative are continuing their struggle with Leeds Council over a multimillion pound housing refurbishment scheme.
'No blank cheques' was Chancellor Gordon Brown's warning to public sector workers, after pledging £40bn to the NHS in the Budget. Last week's pay settlement for 300,000 health service staff showed...
