Council tax collection in Scotland is still lagging behind that in England, with more than £600m uncollected, according to figures published this week.
Social landlords are being urged to play a greater role in housing asylum seekers and refugees, despite doubts about the future of contracts issued by the National Asylum Support Service.
Ministers are considering a reorganisation of local government in England but no firm decision has yet been taken to introduce unitary authorities, it was confirmed this week.
A US-style model of care that aims to help asthma and arthritis sufferers stay out of hospital is to be rolled out across the health service this year.
Ministers are likely to plough ahead with plans to overhaul fire emergency call centres, despite a leaked Whitehall report stating the project runs the risk of 'total failure'.
Government policy decisions could become subject to greater public debate as this week's Freedom of Information Act opens up new areas of the Whitehall machine, an FoI commissioner has predicted.
Council tenants in Preston have become the first to back a stock transfer to a new-style housing association that gives them greater management control.
Education ministers will consider extending the use of private companies to rescue failing councils' education services after inspectors gave an upbeat report on a flagship scheme in the West...
Northern Ireland's district councils should be given a general power of competence, according to a report on the public health function in the province. The study was commissioned by the Department...
Discussions are continuing over a possible merger of three of the six main accounting institutes, although one of the bodies has asked for more work to be undertaken on the proposals.
The troubled Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust has withdrawn its threat of legal action after a plea from the chair ousted by the regulator, Monitor.
The government should take great care in linking expenditure with outcomes as there is little evidence that its extra cash has led to educational improvements, MPs warned this week.
The public sector should be less likely to accept 'blanket' commercial confidentiality clauses from private contractors once the Freedom of Information Act comes into force next month.
Councils were given an early Christmas present this week, when they were told they would no longer be responsible for finding £3bn in schools' and police authority savings called for in the Gershon...
Labour faces the embarrassment of going into next year's general election defending a record of rising homelessness after ministers admitted that numbers will continue increasing for another three...
The Scottish Executive has been criticised by an influential committee of MSPs for providing 'misleading' information when it claimed that its efficient government plan would save £1.7bn over the...
The irony of Dame Janet Smith's fifth report from her long-running Harold Shipman inquiry, which last week recommended a comprehensive overhaul of the General Medical Council, is that it has little...
The government awarded a contract for five more private sector treatment centres this week, despite anecdotal evidence that patients are unhappy with the initiative.
