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13 Jan 00
Whether the outbreak of flu sweeping Britain is an epidemic is a moot point. Statistically, it isn't. The official figures for reported cases are little more than for January last year.
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13 Jan 00
English National Parks this week warned that the disappointing financial settlement for 2000/01 could delay essential conservation projects and hamper its ability to respond to government priorities...
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13 Jan 00
The Department of Health has signalled a cautious start to its latest modernisation initiative, confirming that only 15 primary care trusts will be formed this year. Thirteen PCTs will be launched on...
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13 Jan 00
A local authority insisted this week that it had taken steps to reduce stress among employees after paying a record £203,000 to a former warden at a site for gypsies.
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6 Jan 00
Many so-called regeneration projects are, in effect, schemes to help manage the irreversible decline of neighbourhoods caused by low demand for social housing, according a study commissioned by the...
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6 Jan 00
The Treasury wants members of its public services directorate to shadow head teachers, NHS executives and senior local government officials to establish a better grasp of government spending...
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16 Dec 99
Statutory guidance for implementing Best Value was published for all local authorities this week.
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16 Dec 99
Local authorities will have to bear an increasing amount of the cost of Best Value inspection, which could rise to more than £50m a year.
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16 Dec 99
Acute shortages of social housing and the unwillingness of some councils to provide accommodation for ex-prisoners are adding to the likelihood of people reoffending after they leave prison, says a...
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16 Dec 99
Scottish Homes is being turned into an agency of the Scottish Executive in a move to bring together the rights of tenants living in council and housing association properties.
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16 Dec 99
Local government does not have a single black finance director, the Employers' Organisation has found.
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16 Dec 99
Schools minister Estelle Morris has conceded that the government is creating and promoting a market for the private sector to take over the running of failing schools.
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9 Dec 99
Trading standards departments need to work more closely with each other and with the Office of Fair Trading, according to separate reports from the Audit Commission and the National Audit Office.
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9 Dec 99
Social housing rents would soar beyond the means of most tenants if they were based on the market value of properties, says a new survey.
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2 Dec 99
A High Court victory by homeless families who objected to being placed in seaside accommodation will add to the spiralling cost of homelessness in London, local authorities warned this week.
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2 Dec 99
Labour has made £24m available for councils to meet the costs of audit and inspection under the Best Value regime that comes into force in April.
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2 Dec 99
League tables could be introduced across the criminal justice system after a critical National Audit Office study found up to £84m could be saved by eliminating waste and spreading good practice.
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2 Dec 99
Doctors' allowances are under threat following an Audit Commission report showing that fraud perpetrated by general practitioners in England has increased tenfold in the past year.
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25 Nov 99
Seventeen local authorities placed under 'special measures' by the government have complained that they were treated unfairly by being named and shamed by social care minister John Hutton.
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25 Nov 99
Councils have accused the government of penalising them for innovation by denying them cash for policies which are later recommended and funded by the government.
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25 Nov 99
A rise of 7% has been forecast in council tax almost three times the rate of inflation in the next financial year, with householders facing an average £56 increase in their bills.
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25 Nov 99
Directly elected mayors for major cities in England and Wales could be in place as early as spring 2001 as the government this week signalled it wanted to speed legislation through parliament.
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25 Nov 99
The Treasury is to more than double the number of cross-government spending programmes but has played down claims that this is an assault on the financial independence of individual Whitehall...
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25 Nov 99
The influential Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) at the Cabinet Office is to investigate which public services can be delivered electronically and to examine the respective roles of both the...
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25 Nov 99
The National Association of Head Teachers has accused local education authorities of undermining school self-management and creating a dependency culture because of the way they distribute grants to...