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.
Unemployment fell by over 100,000 in the third quarter of the year with the total number of people out of work at its lowest level since the three months to July 2008, the Office for National...
Figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions today have found that around 67,000 households have had their benefits capped since the government introduced the £26,000 annual limit in...
Work and pensions committee chair Frank Field has written to chancellor George Osborne to urge him to publish a five-year impact assessment of the government’s proposed tax credit changes,...
Failures in tackling fraud and error in the benefits and tax credit systems remain prevalent, with combined underpayments and overpayments in excess of £47bn in 2013/14, the Public Accounts...
Back-to-work schemes should be overhauled to ensure they focus on the needs of people with social problems and those furthest from the job market, MPs have said.
The Treasury has defended controversial proposals to further cut spending on tax credits, saying reforms introduced since 2010 are projected to save £15bn by 2016/17.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell has promised that the new fiscal and welfare powers to be devolved under the 2015 Scotland Bill will be “a game-changer.”
Conservative reforms to the welfare system are intended to make individuals take responsibility for their own lives, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has told the party’s...
