Europe's head of audit has initiated urgent discussions with Brussels' financial watchdog over the accounting system used for the European Union, after experts refused to sign off the accounts for...
The administration of London boroughs' pension funds is inefficient and millions of pounds could be saved each year if they streamlined their processes, the Audit Commission said this week.
Implementation of last January's health white paper has been set back because of NHS deficits, the acting permanent secretary of the Department of Health has admitted.
NHS deficits have been caused by 'systematic flaws' in the way funding is allocated across the country rather than poor local management, the Commons health select committee was told last week.
The economic case for joint working in the public sector must be clearly established before plans for shared services are implemented, leading finance officials in Scotland have advised.
The significant growth in Scottish health expenditure in recent years has not been matched by improvements in services, auditor general Bob Black has suggested.
Social services departments face an unrealistic funding settlement in next year's Comprehensive Spending Review because the Treasury is basing its calculations on inaccurate and inappropriate data,...
Claims that English schools are failing almost 1 million pupils are misleading, damaging and a 'gross simplification' of the reality of education, teaching leaders said this week.
The Cabinet Office's voluntary sector unit has set up a research centre to improve levels of charitable donations, as the government strives to provide more public services through such organisations.
Whitehall's autonomous agency model came under fire this week when auditors blamed a massive failure in European Union payments to farmers on senior civil servants' reluctance to challenge the body...
MPs and campaigners have warned that proposed changes to the way government processes freedom of information requests could seriously weaken the effectiveness of the legislation.
English cities should be empowered to drive forward their own economic plans, with greater control over transport, planning and skills, according to government-commissioned research.
The Crown Prosecution Service needs to start emulating the most successful private law firms if taxpayers are to be guaranteed value for money, senior MPs said this week.
The government's efficiency programme will protect future investment in public services at adequate levels rather than rob them of vital resources, the Cabinet minister masterminding it has insisted...
Ministers should retain the final say over which Whitehall data are considered as approved statistics, the government is insisting, despite backbench concerns that such powers would undermine the...
Up to £1bn sitting in schools' bank accounts could be made available for broader non-educational children's services, Education Secretary Alan Johnson has said.
Plans to increase benefit payments to single parents seeking work will have a limited impact because little is being done to keep them in the labour market, a former welfare minister has warned.
Up to 60% of deficit-hit NHS organisations have grounds to appeal against the tight time frames they have been given to cut services and recover their debts, according to the NHS Alliance.
Sir Derek Wanless's proposals for funding long-term care for elderly people amount to a 'huge subsidy for the rich' and play into the hands of campaigners concerned with protecting their inheritance...
