Government attempts to reduce poverty and inequality across England have had a limited impact so far, despite sustained investment, according to a report by the Social Exclusion Unit.
British local government is not powerful enough to underpin a switch to a social insurance scheme for national health care, while Conservative Party plans for 'patient passports' to ease the burden...
The Department of Health denied it had demoted NHS information technology supremo Richard Granger this week following the appointment of a senior doctor to share his responsibilities.
The Conservative Party will go back to first principles and avoid the lure of quick-fix solutions to the council tax controversy, its new local government finance spokesman has told Public Finance .
The Home Office's emphasis on targets for imposing new drug treatment and testing orders should change to concentrating on securing positive results, the National Audit Office has said.
Senior parliamentary watchdogs this week launched a broadside at the Labour government, criticising ministers for continually blocking Commons committees from cross-examining senior policy advisers...
The Treasury is determined to monitor Whitehall departments to ensure that extra investment reaches the front line and is not held up in overrunning capital projects, Chancellor Gordon Brown warned...
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy has told his party's spring conference that he is not scared to use the word 'redistribution' when describing his tax and spending plans.
Gordon Brown's pledge to prune Whitehall's army of Sir Humphreys and slash billions of pounds from the government's annual spending bill ensured that these issues dominated last week's post-Budget...
MPs questioned the credibility of the social security system this week with figures showing that one in five benefit decisions is either wrong or contains errors.
Council social services are better managed than they were seven years ago, but there remains a big gap between the best and worst, according to a 'hand-over' report on the sector published by the...
Conservative local government leaders have hailed the party's decision to appoint a spokesman on town hall finance for the first time, as recognition of the issue's increasing political significance.
Gordon Brown threw down the gauntlet to the Conservatives this week when he used his Budget statement to promise substantial extra investment in key public services well into the next Parliament.
Choice will play a central part in the next phase of public service reform, opening up services to greater influence from users, according to one of the prime minister's chief advisers.
The maze of regulations governing how local authorities manage their investments will be swept away when a simplified 'prudential' framework comes into effect on April 1.
Unnecessary impositions and over-zealous regulation by government agencies will be the focus of attempts to eradicate the 'regulatory creep' burdening Britain's public sector, according to the man...
