The Department for Education and Skills has pledged to review the new Dedicated Schools Grant following criticism from MPs and local authorities that it prevents funds being targeted at deprived...
Detected fraud and overpayments among 1,300 public bodies has soared by 33% to £111m since the last sweep of their records two years ago, the Audit Commission revealed this week.
The new leader of London's Conservative councillors is confident he will take control of the capital's local government body following the Tories' sweeping gains in last month's local elections.
Local government should seize the opportunity offered by the Lyons Inquiry and push for a model of local transport funding akin to that developed by Transport for London, the Local Government...
Town halls are being asked for their views on the best way to encourage young people, people with disabilities, and those from inner cities and black and ethnic minority communities to make the most...
The government this week published plans for the most radical overhaul of the UK pensions system since the introduction of the welfare state, proposing to make people work longer, save more and...
Local authorities will peg business rate increases to no more than inflation if they are returned to local control as part of a shake-up of the finance regime, town hall leaders have promised.
A committee of MPs has condemned the Department of Health's contracting and negotiation arrangements for GP out-of-hours services as 'scarcely believable', and 'a concealed pay rise for GPs'.
The reorganisation of police forces in England and Wales must be properly organised and funded, the new head of the Association of Chief Police Officers said this week.
A bigger share of public expenditure must be invested in education over the next two decades if Scotland is to compete internationally and combat poverty and inequality, First Minister Jack McConnell...
Senior civil servants will shortly be asked to sign a confidentiality declaration and assign copyright to the Crown for information relating to their work, under plans to prevent the publication of...
The minister co-ordinating the government's public services reforms this week urged Whitehall departments to sign up to a project that could prevent workforce opposition to future changes.
The National Audit Office has hit out at the way the Department for Constitutional Affairs calculates the so-called 'payment rate' for court fines its performance benchmark.
Former chief financial officer at North East Lincolnshire Council Andrew Ecelson has been expelled from CIPFA. The disciplinary committee found Ecelson guilty of misconduct and breach of...
Figures obtained by Public Finance suggest that NHS patients treated in private hospitals are more likely to require emergency readmission than those treated in the NHS.
Newly merged NHS primary care trusts could be pushed into partnerships with large for-profit organisations, a leading community health specialist has told Public Finance
Bed blocking has increased dramatically in more than 10% of England's local authorities with social service responsibilities, figures seen by Public Finance reveal.
The Department of Health has insisted that the quality of NHS Direct's services will not suffer as a result of plans to axe 400 posts and close 12 call centres.
Breaking up the Home Office would not necessarily make it more effective, Britain's top civil servant warned this week, rejecting claims that an unreformed civil service is to blame for problems...
Tony Blair vowed this week to go 'further and faster' on public service reform as he prepares to launch another wave of change that will 'shape progressive politics' for a generation.
