John Prescott's department is this week trying to persuade the home secretary to flex his political muscle and join the battle to avoid another year of politically damaging council tax hikes, Public...
Accident and emergency departments and ambulance and mental health trusts could receive up to £500,000 a year if they meet government targets for providing faster emergency care, Health Secretary...
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Qualifications Authority were in urgent talks this week to try to resolve a dispute over fees that could bring chaos to the examination...
Officials at the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs have indicated that a review of its anti-fuel poverty initiative is likely to reform the way cash is distributed to those most in...
The Department of Health has allocated an extra £30m to boost information technology in general practice just three months after earmarking £20m for the same purpose.
London motorists who obstruct traffic flows by blocking box junctions or disregarding one-way signs will have to hand over £100 fines to local authorities from April.
Local authority representatives have welcomed the government's decision to abandon controversial proposals to withhold housing benefit from antisocial tenants after a consultation exercise revealed...
The health service's ambitious information technology programme took a step forward this week with the award of the final electronic care records contract and a new pricing agreement that could save...
The civil service code governing the conduct of Whitehall's top officials must be sharpened up in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry, according to the senior civil servants' union.
Thirty years of government grants to disadvantaged areas of England have had 'little real impact' on their economic performance, according to senior backbench MPs.
Student debt in England and Wales could top £8.5bn a year following the government's narrow Commons victory on top-up fees, preventing graduates from seeking public sector jobs, say critics.
The UK is not a 'soft touch' for asylum seekers, but there are systematic 'weaknesses' in government policy that need rectifying to restore public confidence in the system, MPs have reported.
Storm clouds were gathering over local government pay this week, with unions set to lodge a 4% pay claim, despite warnings that employers are determined to keep to the Treasury's inflation-only limit...
The Audit Commission in Wales is taking a legal dispute with Cardiff County Council to the High Court after the authority rejected claims that more than £2.5m in payments to leading officers and...
The government has ruled out any immediate changes to the Freedom of Information Act, but has committed itself to introducing a draft Civil Service Bill later this year.
Normal political debate has pretty much been forgotten amid the tumult of the Hutton Inquiry report and the vote over university top-up tuition fees, but in recent days senior Labour figures have...
Big government spending departments are being urged to remove unnecessary bureaucracy and confusion between agencies to ensure that cash for the public services reaches the front line.
Government efforts to promote the Private Finance Initiative in housing have received a boost after 19 local authorities bid to join the third round of the programme.
Anna Klonowski, the director of finance responsible for stabilising the troubled London Borough of Hackney's budget problems, has been head-hunted to do a similar job at North East Lincolnshire...
There was no conflict of interest in the award of a contract for the sale of £400m worth of surplus NHS property, the National Audit Office said this week.
Another major housing association is coming under close scrutiny by the Housing Corporation after admitting it faces difficulty meeting the decent homes target.
