Former Scottish secretary Douglas Alexander apologised this week after an independent report delivered a damning verdict on the conduct of the Scottish elections, claiming that voters were treated as...
The new generation of Public Service Agreements are not old-style performance targets by another name, Andy Burnham insisted to the Treasury select committee this week.
A council that was at the centre of a row over a redundancy and retirement package for its chief executive has been criticised for a lack of openness caused by 'unduly close' relationships between...
Senior MPs this week criticised the government's flagship academy schools programme for failing to control costs, with almost two-thirds of the first buildings running over budget.
Council and social care leaders are warning that the government must use its forthcoming green paper on adult services funding to fundamentally rethink the system.
Ministers have moved swiftly to guarantee the future of a flagship regeneration programme after a government document wrongly suggested that it was under threat.
Stock transfers from councils to housing associations have helped create a two-tier workforce among staff employed by the same landlord, a union has claimed.
Local authorities must perform detailed needs assessments of elderly people going into care homes to help them get a fair deal, the Commission for Social Care Inspection insisted this week.
The new chancellor's first Pre-Budget Report forecast a temporary dip in revenue and slowed the growth in spending. Both of these pose risks for the government's grand plans for public services
Louise Casey, the government's 'respect' czar, is leaving her post to head a review into ways of involving local communities in anti-crime initiatives.
Town hall leaders are warning of cuts to services and jobs after the government's long-awaited Comprehensive Spending Review and Pre-Budget Report this week gave them a meagre 0.9% annual funding...
The Equality and Human Rights Commission came into being this month, bringing all equality issues under one roof. Is this a great leap forward in the fight against discrimination or a messy merger of...
News that adult social care funding will be frozen in real terms was sweetened slightly by the confirmation that the government will consult on a radical overhaul to the system.
Local authorities are urging the government to state exactly how much longer they have to bring their rents in line with those charged by housing associations.
Local Government and Communities Secretary Hazel Blears is under pressure to sign up to an 'accord' to eradicate child poverty, after Chancellor Alistair Darling's Comprehensive Spending Review...
Payment by results might help hospital managers and clinicians to understand their costs better, but it comes with significant costs of its own, the CIPFA health finance conference heard.
Primary care trusts should take patients' complaints into account when making commissioning decisions, especially those involving independent sector providers, the Healthcare Commission said this...
Clinicians and new technology are at the centre of the government's vision for the future of the NHS, health minister Lord Ara Darzi was due to say on October 4.
The pledge to end the 'postcode lottery' in who gets free social care might not bear fruit because primary care trusts are ignoring new guidance from the Department of Health, Public Finance has...
