Community planning partnerships in the public sector are finding it difficult to improve services because of their complex remit, Audit Scotland has found.
Town hall finance chiefs are retreating from the challenges thrown up by local government reform, according to the man reviewing the function and funding of councils.
A former permanent secretary this week called for Whitehall's performance assessments to be quickly handed over to an external regulator once the new frameworks become embedded.
The Department for Communities and Local Government is considering a fundamental overhaul of local authority pensions potentially creating a new scheme with retirement payments linked to employees...
Town hall leaders have given cautious backing to government plans announced this week to dock the housing benefit of antisocial residents who refuse to undertake 'rehabilitation'.
The government will 'intensify' cross-departmental work to ensure that health and welfare improvements among social groups with life expectancies close to the future state pension age are prioritised...
Cabinet Office officials backed away from inflating savings targets for Whitehall's shared services programme because it was difficult to reflect improvements in services delivered, Public Finance...
Is 'public value' a useful tool for democratising public services or a load of airy-fairy nonsense? Colin Talbot sets out the case for taking it seriously
While Labour and the Conservatives join battle over who has the most sustainable policies, public sector organisations are making some serious strides forward. Andrew Ross reports on an issue whose...
The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement's head marries 'lean-thinking' management-speak with NHS values. Sally Gainsbury meets a man of change
The Treasury this week stood firm over its decision to administer tax credits from the Revenue and Customs department, despite claims that the system is 'in crisis' and should be moved to the...
The government this week published plans for the most radical overhaul of the UK pensions system since the introduction of the welfare state, proposing to make people work longer, save more and...
Local authorities will peg business rate increases to no more than inflation if they are returned to local control as part of a shake-up of the finance regime, town hall leaders have promised.
This year's big winners at the Public Servants of the Year Awards work in very different parts of the public sector, but they share a commitment to helping disadvantaged young people turn their lives...
Scottish councils and public bodies have identified fraud and errors totalling £15m, following an investigation carried out as part of the National Fraud Initiative, Audit Scotland has disclosed.
Network Rail this week revealed that two of its senior executives were among 4,300 staff targeted by criminals in Whitehall's multi-million pound tax credits fraud.
Chancellor Gordon Brown's tough new public sector pay remit has sparked an angry response from senior civil servants, who accuse the government of failing to understand the complexities of Whitehall'...
The new contract for senior hospital doctors has cost £90m more than expected and failed to deliver better services to patients, the King's Fund said this week.
A £2.15bn ground-breaking agreement has brought benefits to the teaching profession in Scotland, a public sector watchdog has found. But a lack of performance measures makes it difficult to assess...
As all the parties compete for a fresh image, the LibDems have taken a lead by appointing England's youngest MP as a top Treasury spokeswoman. Vivienne Russell talked to her
Civil servants this week threatened to bring every Whitehall department to a standstill as opposition to the government's efficiency programme and job cuts intensified.
The chair of the Lyons Inquiry into Local Government says that there is now a consensus in favour of more decentralisation. But councils will have to raise their game to improve transparency and...
