The Audit Commission has urged councils to ensure they implement a strategic approach to asset and property management after finding £2.5bn of the local government estate could be put to better use.
Scottish Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has welcomed a report from a panel of experts calling for an independent Scotland to raise the minimum wage, inflation-link benefits, scrap the ‘bedroom...
Plans to limit pay-offs to senior public service managers and moves to increase the amount of public sector land available for development were among the measures confirmed in today’s Queen’s Speech.
Ofsted’s revised inspection criteria for children’s services is succeeding in shifting assessments on to the experiences of children, young people and families, according to an independent expert...
Spending cuts or tax increases would be needed in an independent Scotland to meet the estimated £1.2bn cost of policies in the Scottish Government’s independence white paper, the Institute for Fiscal...
Trade union Unite has said it has ‘a strong mandate’ from its NHS members to reject the government’s pay offer for health service workers, a move that could lead to industrial action.
Plans to devolve funding for transport projects to local enterprise partnerships could mean that infrastructure in some parts of the England gets left behind, MPs have warned today.
The European Commission has urged the government to reform council tax to remove ‘distortions’ caused by basing the system on property values that are more than two decades old.
There has been a 14% rise in the number of people who are facing debt problems as a result of paying back tax credits that were overpaid, Citizens Advice has said. However, the government insisted...
The Scottish Parliament should be given full control over income tax if there is a no vote in September’s independence referendum, the Conservatives have said today.
Scottish ministers are to relax Treasury rules on the sale of state-owned assets in order to free up land owned by the Scottish Government and its agencies for community purchase.
An independent commission into the future of council finance has today been launched by CIPFA and the Local Government Association, tasked with developing reforms to address key challenges amid...
Labour has pledged to give local authorities multi-year funding settlements if it wins the next election, in a bid to end short-term spending decisions in public services.
Government plans to integrate public services and spending mean it is vital that reforms are also made to the regime for dealing with complaints about poor provision, the Whitehall ombudsman has said.
A future Labour government would increase the number of people auto-enrolled in workplace pension schemes in a bid to cut the amount spent on old age benefits, shadow work and pensions secretary...
Councils will have to pass a credit test and cross-guarantee loans made to other authorities if they want to access the Local Government Association’s planned municipal bonds agency, the lead...
The new chair of the Local Government Association has pledged to be robust in representing the position of councils to government during ‘critical times for local government’.
The government has agreed to write-off the historical housing stock debt of Salford City Council as part of moves to transfer ownership of the properties to Salix social housing company.
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Scrutiny of local council decisions in Wales has improved to help authorities take spending decisions based on evidence but best practice is not yet applied across the country, the Auditor General...
Complaints about adult social care increased by 14% over the last year to stand at nearly 2,500, with the vast majority about council-delivered services, the local government ombudsman has said today.
The government is prepared to back the introduction of open-book accounting for public sector outsourcing contracts, a senior figure in the industry has said
