High-value civil service exit packages should be scrutinised by the Treasury to make sure they represent value for money, the National Audit Office has warned.
A 2p tax shift from national insurance to income tax would raise £6bn for the public purse while tackling the current “unfair and distortionary” bias against employees, a leading think-tank has said.
A pervasive aversion to risk and uncertainty is preventing public procurement from driving the delivery of the government’s key missions, according to new analysis.
Almost two million people are carrying out unpaid care work for at least 35 hours a week as England’s social care system reaches “breaking point”, a report has warned.
Borrowing hit a five-year high in August, casting further gloom over the economic outlook and piling pressure on the chancellor to raise taxes at the Budget.
Councils are calling for a major update in the way they are reimbursed for the cost of temporary accommodation after new figures showed the bill had soared by a quarter in the last year.
Soaring social care demand, unsustainable borrowing and weak governance of commercial ventures are the main pressures that have forced councils to seek government bailouts, according to research by...
The “transformative” potential of automation to drive efficiency savings in the healthcare sector is being hampered by chronic underinvestment and a rigid and complex capital approval process,...
Government plans to overhaul the administration of council tax have not been properly thought through and risk leaving local authorities out of pocket, finance experts have warned.
The government’s drive for efficiency savings is being hampered by poor quality data and a dependence on clunky, outdated systems, according to the National Audit Office.
Fractured relationships between senior officers and councillors at Wrexham County Borough Council continue to jeopardise the authority’s decision-making, governance and reputation, auditors have...
Council tax debt in England has risen by almost half since the eve of the pandemic as cost-of-living pressures push families into arrears over priority bills, according to research.
The drive for public service reform in Scotland is being hindered by uncertain and inflexible local authority funding, according to council chief executives.
The Office for National Statistics was underfunded for what it was expected to achieve, with competing demands from different parts of government, according to its former head.
The government risks further high-profile infrastructure failures if critical schemes are excluded from plans to strengthen the governance of mega-projects, an influential group of MPs has warned.
Forcing universal credit claimants to take any job, however unsuitable or insecure, under threat of sanction is counterproductive for both jobseekers and employers, a parliamentary committee has said.
Research has suggested that although last year’s reforms to the Right to Buy scheme led to a short term uptick in applications, the changes should begin to deliver long-term benefits soon.
The government has been urged to abolish the two-child benefit cap as part of a suite of measures aimed at lifting more than four million people out of poverty.
Housing leaders have warned of “significant” infrastructure gaps in county areas as the government pushes ahead with a raft of changes to the planning system to help deliver its housebuilding...
