The proposed High Speed 2 rail line linking London with the Midlands and north of England is needed to provide a long-term increase in the capacity on the railway network across the country, the...
The Department for Communities and Local Government must do more to measure the cumulative impact of cuts on councils to ensure that town halls are able to manage the reductions, the National Audit...
Electronic monitoring contracts currently held by G4S and Serco are to be given to Capita by the end of the financial year, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling announced today.
Scotland’s council tax freeze will continue for a seventh year after Finance Secretary John Swinney announced that the funding given to councils for 2014/15 would be increased in cash terms.
The credibility of the Treasury’s Whole of Government Accounts continues to be ‘undermined’ by a number of errors and omissions that should be rectified, the Public Accounts Committee said today.
Councils have continued to improve their financial reporting, with only one local authority – Manchester City Council – receiving a qualified audit opinion on its 2012/13 accounts, the Audit...
England’s education system is improving but is marred by significant regional differences, chief inspector of schools Sir Michael Wilshaw said today as he published his second annual report
The costs of the government’s controversial free schools programme are increasing and the Department for Education needs to exert more control over funding, the National Audit Office has said today.
The Department for Work and Pensions has written off more than £40m of computing systems following problems in the implementation of the Universal Credit benefit reform, the auditor general has...
The Border Force has weakened security at UK borders by focusing on passenger checks and neglecting examination of freight for illicit goods or vehicles for concealed illegal migrants, MPs have...
Soaring rents are forcing more working people to rely on Housing Benefit, with the number of employed claimants more than doubling since 2009, the National Housing Federation has warned.
The rate of UK public library closures slowed last year, with 74 libraries shutting compared to 201 in 2011/12, CIPFA’s latest library survey has revealed.
The public sector employment outlook has deteriorated in the last three months, with employers now unlikely to hire extra staff, a poll by recruiters Manpower has found.
Holyrood’s finance committee has welcomed the focus on preventative spending in the Scottish Government’s Budget, but warned the approach could be held back by other parts of the public sector.
Introduction of the Universal Credit will lead to a £600m reduction in welfare spending after the government announced that allowances in the benefit would be frozen for three years, an analysis of...
Deeper cuts will need to be made to public service spending to meet Chancellor George Osborne’s target for a government surplus in 2018/19, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said.
Scotland’s government departments, councils and agencies must gear up for tougher standards of governance, irrespective of the outcome of next September’s independence referendum, the chief executive...
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has confirmed that the government will meet the costs of the business rate reliefs set out in the Autumn Statement.
Government policies to support local economic growth such as the creation of local enterprise partnerships and City Deals may not be value for money, the National Audit Office has warned.
