A second year of modest council tax rises in Scotland was expected to be announced on March 9, with average figures within the 5% ceiling set by the Scottish Executive.
The Inland Revenue is likely to pursue a compensation claim against Andersen Consulting after a catalogue of delays with the new National Insurance Recording System has left it four years behind...
Ken Livingstone, still pondering whether to abandon the Labour Party and run against official candidate Frank Dobson for the post of London's mayor, said on March 1 that it would be a further two...
Current audit arrangements for councils, largely carried out within the public sector, keep fees down, local government minister Hilary Armstrong claimed this week.
Up to 1.3 million local government workers are set to receive a pay rise of just 3% despite warnings that councils are facing a worsening recruitment crisis.
All Private Finance Initiative schemes could be scrutinised for value for money by Westminster after ministers this week announced a fundamental review of the way central government is audited.
The recent reforms proposed by Sir Richard Wilson, the head of the civil service, are 'self-indulgent' and take no account of cost, according to a leading former civil servant.
Health minister John Denham has called on health authorities to give greater support to primary care groups (PCGs) after a Department of Health survey showed wide variations in the amount of money...
Relatives of those who died in the Paddington train crash have criticised the 'U-turn' by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in allowing the rail operating company Railtrack to retain much of its...
PricewaterhouseCoopers last week announced its intention to split its business operations into at least two divisions, recognising the complaints of conflicts of interest in the Big Five firms.
Social landlords are stepping up pressure on the government to improve the way councils pay housing benefit, ahead of any long-term changes to the benefits system.
Figures released this week by Customs and Excise show that the flight of serious punters to low-tax offshore betting operations is beginning to bite into government revenues.
The government is introducing IT project controls in an effort to avoid further crises with computer systems, following the problems at the Passport Agency and the Immigration and Nationality...
John Prescott's plan to privatise the national air traffic control system is 'the worst of all possible options', according to an all-party committee of MPs. The Commons transport committee said...
Business leaders could be directly elected to regional chambers under a proposal being considered by the government to widen the background of those determining regional policy at local level.
As the vague concept of Best Value turns into a full-blown audit and inspection regime, the reality of what awaits finance chiefs is finally being grasped. And they are not happy.
Conflicting policies from the prime minister and senior politicians are 'blurring the lines' of the modernising government agenda, a senior civil servant has said.
Well-off patients could have to pay £50 for a 20-minute consultation with a GP as part of a radical overhaul of primary care services, family doctors have predicted this week.
Local authorities breathed a sigh of relief this week as the government endorsed CIPFA's Best Value Accounting Code, accepting the argument that self-regulation is preferable to secondary legislation...
The introduction of directly elected city-region mayors whose responsibilities would cover a much wider territory than previously proposed is being considered by the government.
Government warnings to local authorities to keep down council tax rises may have been heeded. Early forecasts, based on counties' figures, suggest bills will rise by about 6% on average in line...
