Ministers seriously underestimated the complexity of setting up housing Private Finance Initiative schemes, an independent report has found.
The review, carried out for the Office of the Deputy...
MPs this week called for a radical overhaul of regional grant distribution in England following fierce criticism of the current system.
Members of the Commons' Public Accounts Committee have...
Local authorities should have the power to decide whether their tenants have the right to buy their homes in any part of their area, the Local Government Association has told MPs scrutinising the...
Ministers face a race against the clock to spend an extra £22m devoted to housing as part of the three-year Spending Review.
Unless the money is allocated by next month, the government's...
Two senior public spending watchdogs have expressed scepticism over the usefulness of public sector comparators and concern at their undue prominence in the procurement of Private Finance Initiative...
The British Medical Association has called on NHS managers to help stamp out racism against doctors from ethnic minorities.
A BMA survey published this week found that almost nine out of ten...
The success of the government's plans to introduce university top-up fees 'depends crucially' on ministers combating potential students' fear of spiralling debts, experts have warned.
The government has accepted union, industry and local government proposals to settle disputes over the two-tier workforce this week.
The announcement by local government minister Nick Raynsford...
Town hall leaders are demanding a thorough analysis of the costs of reorganising local government if next year's referendums lead to elected regional assemblies being set up.
Education employers are to push for the abolition of the School Teachers' Review Body in an attempt to wrest back control over pay negotiations from Whitehall.
The chair of the National Employers'...
Asylum seekers are to be diverted away from private landlords into homes owned by councils and housing associations.
The Home Office is appealing to more social landlords to offer accommodation...
The rise of reality television offers 'important lessons' in the battle to re-engage the public with politics and encourage people to vote, Nick Raynsford said this week.
The local government...
Education watchdogs have attacked the standard of sports lessons in England's schools, claiming that only a third are rated 'good' or better.
In a report published on June 16, Ofsted inspectors...
The Audit Commission will take a more 'risk-sensitive' approach to inspections while Comprehensive Performance Assessments will 'focus on things that really matter', its new chief executive said this...
In the hothouse atmosphere of Whitehall, secrets have a habit of leaking out. Not so Alan Milburn's resignation as health secretary last week. Even his old sparring partner Gordon Brown was said to...
The union representing prison officers has called on ministers to rethink the government's support for privately financed jails after a report by an influential spending watchdog claimed they were no...
Northern Ireland's comptroller and auditor general John Dowdall, an honorary CIPFA member, was made a CB in the Queen's birthday honours list on June 14.
There were knighthoods for Metropolitan...
Train services on some busy routes are likely to be cut after the Strategic Rail Authority adopted a new strategy to co-ordinate information 'that was missing at privatisation'.
The network...
MPs have slammed the Department of Trade and Industry for failing to boost regeneration initiatives in deprived areas, despite throwing cash at problems in the form of grants.
Commenting in the...
The government and Unison were back on a collision course this week after the prime minister announced that more services would be 'opened up' to the private sector and the union warned of strike...
Education authorities should fit sprinkler systems wherever possible in schools or face rocketing insurance premiums, insurer Zurich Municipal has warned.
It said the cost of arson in schools...
Scottish councils were this week praised by the Accounts Commission in a report on their handling of the costly early retirement of officers.
The report was conducted in the wake of decisions to '...
Local Government Association chair Sir Jeremy Beecham has joined the Treasury committee that oversees preparation for UK entry into the euro.
Beecham told Public Finance that he had not seen the...
