The government's Departmental Capability Reviews were this week dismissed by one of Whitehall's most respected commentators as lacking credibility because of the civil service's insistence on self-...
A single police force covering the whole of Wales could lead to more effective crime-fighting, the chief constable of South Wales told delegates at the CIPFA in Wales annual conference in Cardiff.
Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton has warned MPs that the government's response to a root-and-branch assessment of the Child Support Agency could be delayed until 2006.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is struggling to meet the expectations of British travellers and expatriates because of its unpredictable, shoestring budget, a report from the National Audit...
Deficits in foundation trusts are almost twice as large as those in NHS trusts, the first year's consolidated accounts from the regulator Monitor has revealed.
The new permanent secretary at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received a rough ride at his debut in front of MPs this week when they pushed him to justify capping councils for excessive...
More than 100 investigations into standards at five new private sector treatment centre providers were triggered between April 2004 and June 2005, a report for the Department of Health revealed this...
Private Finance Initiative projects are still hampered by poor design and a new, 'smarter' model must be developed, the Royal Institute of British Architects has warned.
Town halls in Scotland are preparing to impose council tax increases well in excess of inflation, despite First Minister Jack McConnell's insistence on an average of no more than 2.5%.
Many of Scotland's public bodies do not have clear leadership policies and have no idea whether the millions of pounds being spent in this area are having an effect, Audit Scotland has found.
Treasury officials have dismissed as 'erroneous' a new study claiming that public sector pension liabilities have soared to more than £800bn greater than the UK's national debt.
A Yorkshire-based NHS trust repeatedly ignored Audit Commission warnings not to inflate its asset values in order to hide deficits totalling £4.5m, it emerged this week.
The former Inland Revenue replaced the Department for Work and Pensions as Whitehall's most sickly organisation last year with staff taking an average of 12 days off ill.
Edward Leigh, the chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, has attacked the Department for Work and Pensions over its 'over-complex' social fund.
Measuring progress on efficiency will form a significant part of the new Departmental Capability Reviews for Whitehall, launched by Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell last month.
The 13% funding gap between English further education colleges and schools will be reduced and the problems highlighted by Sir Andrew Foster's inquiry into the FE sector will be tackled, Ruth Kelly...
Reorganised primary care trusts will go through a 'fitness for purpose' test similar to the assessment of foundation trust applicants, NHS chief executive Sir Nigel Crisp said last week.
Ministers and health service managers admitted this week that action is needed to address poor standards of NHS stroke care, after government auditors said the service was failing patients.
Primary schools are using covert selection methods to weed out the most disadvantaged pupils, according to the director of the Confederation of Education and Children's Services Managers.
