Welfare

  • Public Finance
    26 Jun 03
    The way that public money has been given to homeowners to improve dilapidated properties in Wales has proved susceptible to fraud, and changes to be introduced next month could escalate problems,...
  • Public Finance
    19 Jun 03
    The union representing prison officers has called on ministers to rethink the government's support for privately financed jails after a report by an influential spending watchdog claimed they were no...
  • Public Finance
    19 Jun 03
    Train services on some busy routes are likely to be cut after the Strategic Rail Authority adopted a new strategy to co-ordinate information 'that was missing at privatisation'. The network...
  • Public Finance
    12 Jun 03
    Britain's public services are dogged by poor performance and high levels of customer dissatisfaction, while critics who believe privatisation has escalated problems are using the excuse as a '...
  • Public Finance
    5 Jun 03
    The government's NHS modernisation plans were boosted this week as the British Medical Association sent out ballot forms effectively urging its GP members to accept new contract proposals. The...
  • Public Finance
    29 May 03
    Local government employers this week rubbished union proposals for a £6.50 an hour minimum wage in the sector, claiming it would add £2bn to council wage bills and force £100-a-year tax rises on to...
  • Public Finance
    29 May 03
    The Food Standards Agency has come under fire from both environment minister Michael Meacher and consumer groups over the merits of organic and genetically modified food. Heated exchanges have...
  • Public Finance
    29 May 03
    It is dramatic, to say the least: applications for asylum fell from 8,900 last October to 4,565 in March this year just as Tony Blair suggested and in line with his promise to cut the monthly...
  • Public Finance
    29 May 03
    Local authority bosses have been armed with statistics on private sector salaries to rebut allegations that they are overpaid. The information has been issued by the Society of Local Authority...
  • Public Finance
    22 May 03
    Leaders of business and public sector workers have exchanged insults over the role of private firms in providing public services. Confederation of British Industry president Sir John Egan told the...
  • Public Finance
    22 May 03
    Government plans to dock the housing benefit of tenants who indulge in antisocial behaviour have met a hostile response from local authorities and housing associations. Work and Pensions Secretary...
  • Public Finance
    22 May 03
    Ministers and doctors' leaders reached an impasse over the future of the NHS consultants' contract this week. Amid a growing sense of crisis, the British Medical Association gave the government a...
  • Public Finance
    15 May 03
    The government aims to accelerate its foundation trust initiative by encouraging the first wave of the new organisations to help their neighbours achieve the status, too.
  • Public Finance
    8 May 03
    Electricity companies were this week attacked for failing to pass on to consumers the 'substantial' cost savings brought about by government-led reforms in the sector. The National Audit Office,...
  • Public Finance
    8 May 03
    Traditional employer-staff differences over local government pay re-emerged this week after the trade union and council representatives completed their submissions to the body set up to investigate...
  • Public Finance
    1 May 03
    The government has failed to think through the impact of its plans to build hundreds of thousands of extra homes in the Southeast, according to the Commons committee scrutinising Deputy Prime...
  • Public Finance
    24 Apr 03
    Non-profit-distributing public interest companies have a 'potentially important role' to play in public service delivery, says a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research. But it warns...
  • Public Finance
    17 Apr 03
    Competition for public sector finance jobs is increasing because of the sector's 'recession proof' status, according to research out later this month. The survey of public sector salaries by...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Government reform of unemployment services, announced in this week's Budget, could lead to 'widespread short-termism' across the sector, the leading civil servants' union has claimed. Officials at...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Weaknesses in the Department for Work and Pensions' computer system hamper efforts to increase the take-up of benefits among elderly people, the Public Accounts Committee has said. Between £930m...
  • Public Finance
    3 Apr 03
    The Prison Service is missing out on potential savings because its procurement procedures are too fragmented, according to the National Audit Office. The public spending watchdog found that while...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Plans to bring US-style regeneration to Britain's city centres could be undermined by a row over funding. From April 2004, Business Improvement Districts (Bids), credited with turning around the...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Government proposals aimed at preventing the £29bn pensions 'timebomb' from exploding are not radical enough, ministers were warned this week. Final submissions on Work and Pensions Secretary...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Scottish Education Minister Cathy Jamieson has used a local government conference to announce an extra £80m to guarantee full implementation of the McCrone agreement on teachers' workloads....
  • Public Finance
    20 Mar 03
    MPs this week described as 'appalling' the government's delay in informing 6 million people who are expected to retire between 2002 and 2010 of possible cuts to their inherited state pensions. The...

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