The number of councils in Wales should be cut by around half to save money and ensure they are able to provide quality services amid funding pressures, a report commissioned by the Welsh Government...
The Welsh auditor general has urged local authorities to ensure they have effective financial management arrangements in place after his annual audit review revealed that performance had slipped back
Local communities in England lose £4.1bn each year to the UK’s devolved nations through the ‘outdated’ Barnett Formula for distributing public spending, the Local Government Association has claimed...
Cardiff could be handed control of £3bn in tax revenues, including powers over business rates, UK ministers said today as they accepted almost all of the recommendations of the Silk Commission on...
Councils in England have called for extra financial powers to be given to local authorities following the government’s announcement that a range of taxes would be devolved to the Welsh Assembly.
Wales is to receive a suite of new tax and borrowing powers after UK ministers today announced they had agreed to the Silk Commission’s key recommendations on devolution.
The Welsh government has struck a deal with two opposition parties to reform social care provision and increase school spending, First Minister Carwyn Jones has revealed.
More than half of Welsh local authorities have difficulty in accurately measuring their performance due to partial or inaccurate information about services, Wales’ auditor general has said
Schools in Wales could potentially save £9m a year if the level of teacher absences could be reduced to the level in England, a report by the Wales Audit Office has found
Many Welsh town and community councils have ‘common and fundamental issues’ of weak financial management that must be addressed, the auditor general for Wales said today
Welsh Assembly members have criticised the NHS in Wales over the way it uses consultants, saying the job planning process is regarded as little more than a ‘tick-box exercise’.
Millions of pounds of public money could be saved if the Welsh Government tightened up management of its own estate and stopped regarding buildings as parts of ‘ministerial fiefdoms’, according to...
More than half of the Welsh public want the National Assembly for Wales to gain more powers, but they are divided on which areas should transfer, a survey has found.
The Wales Audit Office examined the accounts of more than 800 bodies last year. It found cases of unlawful pay increases and rate setting and had to issue two public interest reports.
The UK government has launched a short consultation on devolving stamp duty to the National Assembly for Wales in advance of its formal response to the Silk Commission proposals on greater financial...
Auditors have issued a stark warning that the NHS in Wales will struggle to live within its means and sustain the current level and quality of services, unless there is a significant change in...
The Welsh Assembly is working with CIPFA on a programme of financial scrutiny training for Assembly members and their staff, believed to be the first of its kind in a parliamentary context.
The Housing Revenue Account subsidy system is to be scrapped in Wales and councils put on a par with their English counterparts and made self-financing in terms of housing, the Treasury announced...
‘Innovative’ finance schemes allowed the Welsh Government to spend around £1.3bn more on infrastructure projects in the past year than it originally planned, Finance Minister Jane Hutt has announced.
Finance Minister Jane Hutt is marshalling Wales’ response to austerity. She talks to Public Finance about the Labour-led nation’s battle for new fiscal powers, and why she’s not...
The Welsh Government is to end its two-year involvement in the running of Isle of Anglesey County Council at the end of the month, handing control back to councillors following elections earlier this...
Welsh local government could be reorganised again after First Minister Carwyn Jones announced a review of the way public services in Wales are governed and held accountable.
The way senior managers’ pay rises were decided at Caerphilly County Borough Council last year was unlawful, auditors have ruled in a public interest report.
The Welsh government appears complacent as school performance continues to deteriorate. Ministers need to think radically and should start by introducing some competition into the education system
