Housing associations have lost a long-running battle to avoid European Union procurement regulations after the UK government decided against challenging a European Commission ruling.
Scotland's worst secondary schools are to be boosted by funding from both the public and private sectors, First Minister Jack McConnell announced this week.
The European Commission has launched legal proceedings against the UK because it has not been given sufficient access to conduct nuclear inspections at Sellafield.
Local authorities believe Best Value is achieving significant improvements to services but there is still widespread dissatisfaction with the accompanying inspection regime, according to new research.
Civil service unions will launch an impassioned defence of their under-threat workforce next week, boosted by criticism of the government reforms from the leader of the Trades Union Congress.
Audit Commission chief executive Steve Bundred believes CIPFA's proposed merger would help restore public confidence in the profession following a series of scandals.
Chancellor Gordon Brown could be on a collision course with his own civil servants over possible modifications to performance-related pay deals, described by unions this week as 'radical and crude'.
Local authorities must pay higher fees to care homes if they want to staunch the loss of beds, researchers have warned, after almost 10,000 disappeared in 2003/04.
The government must develop a national family strategy to prevent pregnant workers from getting a raw deal, the Equal Opportunities Commission said this week.
Arm's-length management organisations could be given control of local authority homes in a move that could lead to full privatisation of council housing stock.
Colleges should be allowed to take on a bigger role in delivering higher education, according to the latest report from an influential centre-Left think-tank.
The Local Government Association has pledged that poor or weak performing councils will be a thing of the past by 2007 as part of a bold bargaining agenda to extract more freedoms from Whitehall.
Affordable early years education remains out of reach for too many families despite impressive levels of government investment, senior MPs said this week.
Regional housing boards set up in the past 18 months should be merged with planning boards, which are more than 40 years their senior, the government said this week.
The NHS and crime are key areas of concern for older voters, says a report, which warns politicians that they ignore the worries of the over-45s at their peril.
Governors of public bodies should take a leading role in scrutinising corporate governance arrangements to ensure they are of the highest standard, independent experts have said.
Councils have made widespread use of measures introduced by the Department for Work and Pensions to simplify housing benefit and improve anti-fraud measures.
Housing leaders are urging the government to stand up to the 'well-funded voice of Nimbyism', which they warn is threatening plans to build more affordable homes.
An inquiry into a multibillion pound health service IT programme is a routine study and not prompted by particular concerns, the National Audit Office insisted this week.
Government departments are using the Private Finance Initiative to get projects off their balance sheets, rather than because it offers the best value for money, a Labour-aligned think-tank has...
