Audit Scotland has told fire and rescue authorities that they need to do more if they are to meet the requirements of Best Value, the system that requires public bodies to continually improve their...
Liverpool City Council is pressing the Merseyside Pension Fund to give its members a vote on whether ethical issues should be included in its investment principles.
Striking civil servants joined hundreds of thousands of council workers on the picket lines this week as the battle over the government's attempts to limit public sector pay stepped up a gear.
Councils need to focus more on helping older people to remain active citizens rather than concentrating solely on the needs of the infirm minority, the local government watchdog said this week.
Three Whitehall departments have displayed marked improvements in their performance in a round of follow-up capability reviews, showing 'compelling' evidence that they have acted on previous findings...
Third sector minister Phil Hope has agreed with an influential select committee that more robust evidence is required to prove whether voluntary bodies deliver public services in more distinctive...
Conservative leader David Cameron told councillors that the Tories were the true localist party but declined to commit to a reform of town hall finance.
The political parties have fired the opening shots in the Glasgow East by-election, a contest that is crucial for Labour and Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The government has refused to review the £800m allocated for flood prevention in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, despite MPs warning that the sum 'looks inadequate' to cope with the risks.
There is 'no compelling evidence' to show that the government's efforts to encourage the third sector to deliver public services is helping to raise standards, according to backbench MPs.
If Sir Peter Gershon has left one legacy it is that he has made efficiency a major part of public sector discourse. This, at least, is the view of Chief Secretary to the Treasury Yvette Cooper.
A bid to revitalise local democracy and hand control over assets and spending to local communities were at the heart of the local government white paper published by Communities Secretary Hazel...
The government talks long and loud about empowering local communities. So why is it so determined to impose directly elected mayors on councils and citizens that plainly don't want them, ask George...
On the surface, eco-towns seem to tick all the right boxes, providing essential new homes without harming the planet. So why are the locals up in arms? Neil Merrick reports
Housing associations and other developers are to be offered a larger share of grants before they start building, in a move to revive the industry during the credit crunch.
Pilot schemes allowing councils to offer financial incentives to cut household waste are to go ahead, despite fears in local government that they would be scrapped.
Increasing local accountability for services and improving the fractious relationship between town halls and Whitehall could create an 'upward curve' in democracy, the Local Government Association's...
All social landlords should come under a single regulatory system by spring 2010 at the latest, according to the newly appointed head of the Tenant Services Authority.
The long-term growth in household energy consumption is beginning to reverse, with energy efficiency in the home improving by 19% between 1990 and 2004, according to a National Audit Office report on...
