The government is considering the introduction of a single benefit payment for people of working age, a move that would initiate the most radical restructuring of welfare income for decades.
Treasury ministers will continue to monitor closely the cost of the Olympic Games, but have not committed themselves to covering unaccounted rises, officials confirmed this week.
Hospitals' attempts to recover financial balance are leading to longer waits at accident and emergency departments, the British Medical Association said this week.
A controversial Scottish Executive report showing that Scotland has an £11.2bn funding 'black hole' might have contained an error over the level of public spending, chief economist Andrew Goudie...
Ministers have promised to speed up the payment of equipment grants to help elderly and disabled people who live at home, following an independent review.
Government plans to effectively close the London headquarters of the Office for National Statistics are ill-conceived and will cause 'severe risks' to future data, senior staff have warned.
A new multi-billion pound agency will take charge of housing and regeneration in England within the next two years, the government confirmed this week.
Social care minister Ivan Lewis has responded to last week's damning report on social care for older people by calling for a 'new, fair settlement' between the state and individuals.
The Department for Education and Skills has defended its efficiency claims after a committee of MPs accused the department of obscuring proper debate and scrutiny.
Ministers should reconsider their outsourcing plans, a welfare expert warned this week, amid evidence that many organisations providing employment and training services are failing people with...
Tony Blair this week called for a wholesale renegotiation of the contract between the citizen and the state as he launched the next phase of his root-and-branch review of public policy.
Audit Commission chief executive Steve Bundred has denied he is disappointed that the Department of Health declined his advice to repay financial penalties levied against overspending hospitals.
England's eight regional development agencies spent more than £5m last year running offices overseas, leading a senior Conservative MP to call them inefficient and wasteful.
A leading council chief has condemned as 'bizarre' the decision to exclude schools from the list of public bodies required to co-operate with Local Area Agreements.
Local authorities must make residents understand the connection between taxation and services, and exercise spending restraint, to reverse public anger over rising council tax, according to local...
The local government finance regime and waste monopolies have helped to make Britain Europe's worst performer in waste recycling, experts have claimed.
Legislation to free government figures from ministerial control is fundamentally flawed and the proposed new statistics watchdog must be given real teeth, the chair of the Treasury sub-committee has...
A £2bn pay and conditions deal for teachers has failed to deliver significant improvements in pupil achievement, a Scottish education watchdog has declared.
Spending on mental health care needs to rise by 50% in real terms if the government's ambitious policy framework is to be successfully implemented, campaigners are warning.
