Public bodies' use of private management consultants continued to expand rapidly in 2004, with payments to external advisers reaching £1.9bn, according to a new study.
The government's higher education targets are misguided and not benefiting the most disadvantaged youngsters, according to a leading educational charity.
Sir Michael Lyons has insisted that all possibilities are still open in his root-and-branch review of local government finance, despite Nick Raynsford's comments last week that higher council tax...
Electronically tagging offenders is a costly and ineffectual practice that does little more than line the pockets of the private companies that administer it, according to the probation officers'...
The Scottish Executive has warned that it will take action against councils that fail to pass on cash allocated for the employment of extra support staff in schools to tackle bullying and antisocial...
Two of the main teaching unions are locked in a head-to-head battle over the role of the General Teaching Council after its chair, Judy Moorhouse, was re-elected unopposed this week.
The local government landscape is expected to take on a bluer hue on May 5 as the Conservatives aim to capture more councils from Labour in the forgotten election.
The government's top adviser on the Private Finance Initiative has rejected demands by private contractors that they should be compensated for the costs incurred on unsuccessful bids for contracts.
The Department of Health is to try to broker a deal in a long-running row over private firms' refusal to offer Agenda for Change to their staff working in the NHS, Public Finance has learned.
Councils have to play a central part in the next government's delivery agenda but need to prove that they are up to the challenge, the chair of the Local Government Association said this week.
