Senior mandarins fear that the government's secretive change to the legal status of special advisers, which came to light this week, will give spin doctors new powers over civil servants.
London won the right to stage the 2012 Olympics on the strength of the legacy that it will leave behind for deprived areas such as east London. So will transport, housing and other facilities be...
The Local Authority Business Growth Incentive scheme is a good idea on paper rewarding councils for increasing their business tax base. But they would get the benefits faster through the annual...
David Blunkett has signalled his scepticism over claims by a number of organisations that the bedrock of a reformed pensions system should be more generous and non-means tested state provision.
The director of the Centre for Cities is using skills honed at the Treasury to focus on the economic and commercial drivers of urban development. Will Hatchett reports
Sir Robin Wales, the mayor of Newham, the London borough where much of the 2012 Olympics will take place, pledged that it would be working 'flat out' to ensure the games are a success.
The government must legislate as soon as possible to protect the impartiality of civil servants as the pressures they endure are 'greater than ever', the first civil service commissioner has warned.
The UK is unusual in having virtually no legislative control over central government reorganisations. Proponents of this state of affairs point to its flexibility, but it can also lead to flawed...
The new benefits minister is intent on reforms that will raise the employment rate, overhaul housing allowances and fix the DWP's IT systems. Mark Conrad reports
James Plaskitt, the new benefits minister, has given the strongest indication yet that the Child Support Agency could continue to operate in its current form, despite calls for it to be closed.
The government's push to improve neighbourhoods will not be carried out at the expense of councils, local government minister Phil Woolas claimed this week.
The NHS has improved markedly over the past few years, but more attention needs to be paid to public health problems such as obesity, sexually transmitted diseases and especially mental health,...
Pension reform returned to the top of the political agenda this week, but the government and public sector trade unions remained on a collision course over the issue.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull this week outlined Whitehall's latest campaign to improve civil service performance, relaunching a national academy that will train mandarins in the art of...
Lambeth council's 'zero tolerance' approach to non-payment of council tax goes hand in hand with its efforts to explain to residents how this will result in increased revenues and high-quality...
From victory to defeat in a few weeks. The London Borough of Ealing last month failed to convince the Court of Appeal that its 'weak' CPA rating was unlawful. But where does this result leave the...
Scotland's deputy finance minister, Tavish Scott, has defended the Executive's civil service relocation policy following a setback that forced it to drop plans to move a quango from Edinburgh.
Local authorities must substantially improve their financial management arrangements in the 'brave new world' of reformed public services, James Strachan told the CIPFA annual conference in...