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13 Apr 00
Labour reaffirmed its faith in the Private Finance Initiative this week when local government minister Hilary Armstrong unveiled 14 new schemes, totalling £300m.
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13 Apr 00
No council will be warned or capped over council tax increases for 2000/01, ministers decided this week.
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13 Apr 00
The government has opened the multi-million pound schools' IT market to a wider range of private companies, including Internet developers and film-makers, to try to increase competition and raise...
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13 Apr 00
Councils must be given 'freedom and flexibility' to help deliver the government's ten-year strategy to renew deprived neighbourhoods, the Local Government Association warned this week.
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13 Apr 00
London Transport's chief executive has admitted to MPs that London Underground would still face a 'funding gap' if the proposed £8bn public-private partnership went ahead.
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13 Apr 00
Software supplier Microsoft and management consultant the Barony Group have launched a blueprint to help local authorities reach the government's targets for electronic delivery of services.
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13 Apr 00
The highest-paid councillor in the country has agreed to take a pay cut.
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13 Apr 00
Scotland's largest public-private partnership scheme to rebuild Glasgow's secondary schools would not have been affordable without additional government funding, the city's finance director told...
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13 Apr 00
The government launched a stinging attack on the quality of adoption services this week in what could be the first move to loosen local authorities' grip on social services.
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6 Apr 00
The government has offered high-performing councils a 'third way' to hang on to housing stock, as registered social landlords were put on course to become the dominant housing providers by 2004.
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6 Apr 00
The finance director of the largest local authority in England has questioned the value-for-money justification for public-private partnerships and admitted that she has doubts about the cost...
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23 Mar 00
Money meant for frontline council services is being used to fund an ever-burgeoning local government pension bill instead. Local authorities in England and Wales spent almost £2bn in 1998/99 on...
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16 Mar 00
The health service's financial problems look set to deepen, with health authorities and hospitals predicting major deficits for 2000/01, despite ministers' hopes of a return to financial balance.
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16 Mar 00
Concerns are mounting over the Welsh Assembly's failure to address problems in the NHS that have sent waiting lists soaring in Wales.
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9 Mar 00
Council tax bills across England and Wales are predicted to rise by an average of 6.3% to £837 for band D properties in 2000/01 about three times the rate of inflation.
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9 Mar 00
A new training programme has been launched by the Improvement and Development Agency (Idea) to help prepare local government managers for new political arrangements and Best Value.
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9 Mar 00
The government is suffering from 'pilot mania' in its present quest for more efficient government, a leading management consultant has warned.
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9 Mar 00
A second year of modest council tax rises in Scotland was expected to be announced on March 9, with average figures within the 5% ceiling set by the Scottish Executive.
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9 Mar 00
Town halls could be forced to accelerate their electronic service delivery programmes following the prime minister's pledge to get the whole of Britain on-line by 2005.
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9 Mar 00
The government this week promised £10m in emergency aid to local authorities coping with large numbers of asylum seekers, but Home Office ministers backtracked on a promise to take responsibility for...
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2 Mar 00
Current audit arrangements for councils, largely carried out within the public sector, keep fees down, local government minister Hilary Armstrong claimed this week.
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2 Mar 00
Up to 1.3 million local government workers are set to receive a pay rise of just 3% despite warnings that councils are facing a worsening recruitment crisis.
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2 Mar 00
A quarrel has broken out among local authorities over the dispersal of asylum seekers around the UK.
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2 Mar 00
Health minister John Denham has called on health authorities to give greater support to primary care groups (PCGs) after a Department of Health survey showed wide variations in the amount of money...
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24 Feb 00
Government warnings to local authorities to keep down council tax rises may have been heeded. Early forecasts, based on counties' figures, suggest bills will rise by about 6% on average in line...