Local government

  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Lethargic planning departments will not be allowed to stand in the way of new housing in Southeast England, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has warned councils. He said: 'We can't be in a...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Twenty-two luminaries from the world of local government are to scrutinise how Whitehall funds town halls, as the balance of funding review finally got under way this week. Local government...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    An attempt by some Unison activists to block the government's overhaul of the NHS pay system failed this week, although rank-and-file members will have the final say on whether the initiative goes...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    The Home Office has rejected the key recommendation from an inspection of asylum seeker detention centres that children should not be held for longer than seven days. Chief inspector of prisons...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Gordon Brown opened a new front in the government's ongoing battles with trade unions this week when he used his Budget statement to indicate a move towards regional pay settlements.
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Local government minister Nick Raynsford this week provided further details of his long-awaited overhaul of councillors' allowances, giving authorities the chance to set their own remuneration deals...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Government reform of unemployment services, announced in this week's Budget, could lead to 'widespread short-termism' across the sector, the leading civil servants' union has claimed. Officials at...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Government ministers have agreed to alter the Bill paving the way for regional assemblies to ensure referendum ballots have a separate question on the issue of local government reorganisation....
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Hopes have been raised for a resolution of the dispute over the proposed GP contract after a deal guaranteeing minimum incomes was struck this week. A ballot of the UK's family doctors was...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Transport for London's new head of street management, Peter Hendy, opened a can of worms last week when he mused on whether local authorities would bother to introduce congestion charging if the...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Britain's largest teaching union has signalled its intention to take industrial action if the government pushes ahead with plans to allow unqualified staff to take classes. The National Union of...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Weaknesses in the Department for Work and Pensions' computer system hamper efforts to increase the take-up of benefits among elderly people, the Public Accounts Committee has said. Between £930m...
  • Public Finance
    3 Apr 03
    Council tenants wishing to buy their homes under the right to buy scheme will need to have lived in the house for five years instead of two in future, the government announced this week. The...
  • Public Finance
    3 Apr 03
    The Comprehensive Performance Assessment system is to undergo major reform before the next round of full local government inspections in three years' time.
  • Public Finance
    3 Apr 03
    The Liberal Democrats pledged to abolish council tax and replace it with a locally set income tax, as they launched their campaign on March 31 for the May council elections. Local government...
  • Public Finance
    3 Apr 03
    The Prison Service is missing out on potential savings because its procurement procedures are too fragmented, according to the National Audit Office. The public spending watchdog found that while...
  • Public Finance
    3 Apr 03
    Neglect by the former Railtrack has landed its public interest successor with a soaring infrastructure bill. Network Rail's business plan, published on March 31, showed that maintenance, operating...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Local government leaders hit out at the government this week after Nick Raynsford demanded an explanation from authorities for the 'excessive' council tax increases that some have levied.
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Local education authorities must act to tackle a 'very worrying' level of violence and abuse against teachers. That was the message from Eamonn O'Kane, general secretary of the National Association...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Plans to bring US-style regeneration to Britain's city centres could be undermined by a row over funding. From April 2004, Business Improvement Districts (Bids), credited with turning around the...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Education Secretary Charles Clarke has launched a £435m programme to provide children's centres in the most deprived parts of England. The centres will offer childcare, nursery education, parenting...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Widespread concern over the revised local authority grant formula led the government to stump up an additional £28m for schools this week, but ministers denied the cash boost had been influenced by...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Town hall leaders are to mount a campaign against government plans for foundation hospitals, claiming they could dilute their own democratic mandate. As Public Finance went to press, the...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Manchester has become the first local authority to sign a contract to improve council housing directly through the Private Finance initiative. The contract was signed on March 25 three and a half...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Scottish Education Minister Cathy Jamieson has used a local government conference to announce an extra £80m to guarantee full implementation of the McCrone agreement on teachers' workloads....

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