Is time up for Sats? The summer marking fiasco left the government embarrassed, and parents, teachers and pupils fuming. But, argues Conor Ryan, the controversial tests have raised standards and...
The Welsh Assembly Government failed to monitor the risk that the Wales Millennium Centre would not break even after opening, despite warnings from independent advisers, the Wales Audit Office has...
Northern Ireland is to follow Scotland and Wales in abolishing prescription charges. Health Minister Michael McGimpsey said that the cost would be reduced to £3 from January 2009 and abolished by...
Child poverty campaigners have urged the government to invest £3bn in tax credits and benefits after figures showed 174 constituencies in Britain had 50% or more children living in, or on the brink...
Young people under the age of 26 are to be offered free theatre tickets as part of a £2.5m government-funded scheme, it was announced on September 23. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said...
A fivefold rise in the number of ten-14-year-olds being locked up in England and Wales in the past decade is the result of an 'expensive and ineffective' criminal justice strategy, says children's...
Scottish Water claims to be the fastest improving water company in the UK. In its annual report for 2007/08, the public sector utility said it continued to outperform its regulatory contract while...
Prison officers have threatened to take strike action after it emerged that a computer disk containing the details of 5,000 justice staff had been lost by government IT contractor EDS. Justice...
Representatives of millions of public sector workers will discuss co-ordinating strike action against the government's attempts to cap pay rises at next week's Trades Union Congress conference.
An internal report has produced a damning indictment of Cardiff Council children's services, which are likely to miss all but two of 20 main performance targets for 2008/09.
The Labour government has been keen to use legislation to push through its public sector reform agenda. However, there are unintended consequences when powers are not thought through, say Stephen...
You might be fighting fit and at the top of your game, but if you're 65 you can be forced out of your job. This could all change after a spate of age discrimination claims and a European Court...
The Office for National Statistics has been forced to abandon its flagship Odyssey modernisation programme, admitting that planned changes to the national accounts and household surveys will take...
Doctors have welcomed plans announced by Welsh Health Minister Edwina Hart for a wholesale reorganisation of the NHS in Wales, which would scrap the existing trusts and the 22 health boards.
The NHS is not looking bad for 60, and with the government rolling out a new ten-year plan there's plenty of life in the health care system yet. But, as ever, the big issues are all about funding...
The long-term growth in household energy consumption is beginning to reverse, with energy efficiency in the home improving by 19% between 1990 and 2004, according to a National Audit Office report on...
