Kingston-upon-Hull City Council must show 'genuine progress' against its corporate recovery plan when Audit Commission inspectors return there in October, the watchdog has warned.
Opposition to the Treasury's proposed cull of civil service staff will intensify at the Trades Union Congress's annual conference in Brighton next month, motions to the event indicate.
Social landlords that provide temporary accommodation have been assured that housing benefit will not be replaced with a new allowance paid directly to the tenant.
Puzzling omissions in new Financial Services Authority regulations have jeopardised arm's-length housing bodies' ability to provide insurance to thousands of tenants, it emerged this week.
Northern Ireland's eight-month-old pay dispute looks set to linger on, following the rejection of a pay offer by the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (Nipsa).
The government's Women and Work Commission was universally welcomed by unions this week, but is unlikely to defuse the 'ticking time bomb' of equal pay claims in the public sector.
Whitehall's two most influential unions clashed this week as the dispute over management at the Department for Work and Pensions escalated ahead of another 48-hour strike by staff.
Whitehall is to devolve decision-making to local authorities in nine pilot areas from next year in the first tangible example of the government's commitment to localism.
Local government leaders are painting a gloomy picture of their ability to meet Sir Peter Gershon's efficiency targets, predicting inevitable service cuts and council tax hikes.
Defence minister Lord Bach has accused the Commons committee shadowing his brief of inconsistent and unbalanced reporting, following a stinging attack on the ministry's procurement strategy.
Hundreds of new trains operating on Britain's rail network have proved less reliable than the old slam-door rolling stock due for abolition, MPs have reported.
Community health services might be cut back unless primary care trusts put proper systems in place to manage the new NHS funding system, a government watchdog has cautioned.
The NHS Confederation has called for the Private Finance Initiative to be simplified and made more flexible after the announcement of further multibillion pound developments under the scheme.
A ban on smoking in enclosed public places would yield billions of pounds worth of economic benefits, an analysis for chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson has found.
The rolling programme of in-depth Best Value audits of Scotland's 32 councils is now well under way, with the first report due to be published before the end of the summer.
Money intended to help 'unpopular' groups such as drug users and ex-offenders should be ring-fenced to ensure it gets through to the front line, MPs said this week.
The number of NHS foundation trusts could double before a year-long moratorium is called on the scheme's expansion, the Department of Health said this week.
Whitehall's ability to deliver £21.5bn-worth of savings targeted in Sir Peter Gershon's efficiency review came under renewed doubt this week following a damning report on public sector procurement.
Local authorities' role as providers of social care could be marginalised under proposals being considered by social services minister Stephen Ladyman.
