The performance of companies carrying out health and disability assessments for the Department of Work and Pensions is still below par and a source of undue anxiety for claimants, the Public Accounts...
Iain Duncan Smith has criticised the government’s deficit reduction strategy following his resignation as work and pensions secretary, accusing chancellor George Osborne of pursuing “...
Prime minister David Cameron has announced a help-to-save scheme that could see the government top up 3.5 million low-income people’s savings by £1,200.
Scotland is to have its own benefits agency to deliver the new welfare powers devolved under the 2016 Scotland Bill, and to ensure the creation of a distinctive Scottish benefits culture based on...
The unemployment rate remained at its lowest rate in a decade at 5.1% in the three months to December, according to latest Office for National Statistics data.
The government’s Universal Credit reforms will create “huge disincentives” for families receiving the payment to have more than £6,000 in savings, according to an analysis by...
Universal Credit will cut annual benefit spending by £2.7bn, an analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found, but more than 2 million working families are likely to be worse off.
A committee of MPs have launched an inquiry into ‘intergenerational fairness’ in order to consider concerns that older baby boomers are accumulating wealth at the expense of younger generations.
Some councils have ended emergency welfare provision this year following localisation of the support system by the Department for Work and Pensions, the National Audit Office has found.
There is widespread confusion over the impact of the government’s state pension reforms as information produced on the changes has been confusing and sometimes contradictory, a report by the work and...
Outsourcing Department for Work and Pensions health and disability assessments has not been value for money, with the costs of tests increasings by 65% in a new contract, auditors have found.
Two parliamentary select committees have launched a rare joint-inquiry to scrutinise the government’s life chances strategy and the impact of early years intervention.
Auditor general Amyas Morse has issued a qualified opinion on the 2014/15 accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions’ Client Funds Accounts, which cover statutory child maintenance schemes.
Labour has said that cuts to benefit entitlements being introduced through Universal Credit mean controversial tax credit reductions have been “rebranded” by the government rather than reversed.
The government has launched a review of the localisation of council tax support that will consider the impact of the reform on local government finance and whether further reforms should be made to...
Austerity will continue and both significant public sector cuts and some radical reforms lie ahead, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said in its analysis of yesterday’s Autumn Statement and...
Tax credit cuts have been scrapped and the police budget protected, George Osborne has announced in four-year spending plans that will slash Whitehall spending by an average of 19%, less than had...
Facts and figures from the December 2015 edition of Public Finance magazine, including pay growth, Bank of England forecasts, international health provision, student satisfaction, and refugee numbers.
Northern Ireland’s political parties have struck an agreement with the UK and Irish governments to restart devolved government in the province following 10 weeks of talks.
