Rail regulator Tom Winsor has admitted that he will find it more difficult to hold the public interest company Network Rail to account than he did its private sector predecessor Railtrack.
Speaking...
The government's patient choice scheme risks increasing inequality in the NHS, the King's Fund warned this week.
Its report, What is the real cost of more patient choice? , said extending patients...
Pensions Secretary Andrew Smith's green paper this week came under renewed fire after a survey revealed that 95% of employers feel it should have included reforms of the state pension system.
A...
It is dramatic, to say the least: applications for asylum fell from 8,900 last October to 4,565 in March this year just as Tony Blair suggested and in line with his promise to cut the monthly...
A Bill to abolish NHS trusts and establish community health partnerships in Scotland will be one of the first priorities of the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition Executive, First Minister Jack...
Service in some English hospitals is now worse than it was in 2000, the Conservatives claimed this week.
The party compared waiting lists in March to those in December 2000. It found that at 53 of...
Prison reform experts have slammed the government's slow response to concerns about overcrowding in UK jails in the wake of yet another critical report by the sector's watchdog.
Following a damning...
Government plans to revive cottage hospitals are based on 'resources that do not exist and technology that has yet to be invented', the British Medical Association said this week.
In February,...
Schools with budget surpluses must be forced to hand them over to their struggling counterparts to help solve the education funding crisis, a teaching union has demanded.
The National Association...
Local authority bosses have been armed with statistics on private sector salaries to rebut allegations that they are overpaid.
The information has been issued by the Society of Local Authority...
France looks set to be plunged into chaos again next week after prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's Cabinet backed controversial public sector pension reforms on May 28.
The government's...
The Scottish Parliament failed to consider the cost implications when it legislated to provide mainstream teaching for pupils with special education needs, Audit Scotland has found.
In a report...
Local government employers this week rubbished union proposals for a £6.50 an hour minimum wage in the sector, claiming it would add £2bn to council wage bills and force £100-a-year tax rises on to...
The Food Standards Agency has come under fire from both environment minister Michael Meacher and consumer groups over the merits of organic and genetically modified food.
Heated exchanges have...
Future investment in public services will suffer if Britain fails to join the euro, European commissioner Neil Kinnock has warned.
In an interview with Public Finance , Kinnock, who is vice...
Councils will be forced to 'run to stand still' if the Audit Commission's proposals for reassessing the performance league tables are implemented, the Local Government Association has warned.
The...
Network Rail turned in a £290m loss for 2002/03, compared with the £295m profit made by the now-defunct Railtrack in its final year. Last year, spending on renewals increased by 32% to £2.5bn from £1...
The government is heading for another public row with the unions this summer unless the tortuous negotiations over disputes in outsourced contracts are resolved swiftly, it emerged this week.
Ministers and doctors' leaders reached an impasse over the future of the NHS consultants' contract this week.
Amid a growing sense of crisis, the British Medical Association gave the government a...
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council has become the first to claim a reward from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for meeting its interim Local Public Service Agreement targets.
The council...
Local authorities hoping to transfer individual housing estates to new landlords dominate the list of proposed stock transfers for 2003.
The list, published this week by the Office of the Deputy...
The rising cost of primary care drugs and clinical negligence claims has thrown NHS Wales's finances into chaos, it was claimed this week, with overall deficits of £44.1m threatening financial...
Leaders of business and public sector workers have exchanged insults over the role of private firms in providing public services.
Confederation of British Industry president Sir John Egan told the...
The government has fined Capita £1.8m for its failings at the Criminal Records Bureau while granting the company an extra £8.4m to compensate it for last-minute changes to the system, Public Finance...
Education Secretary Charles Clarke's decision to allow schools to use money earmarked for building improvements to ease budget shortages violates good accounting practice, CIPFA has warned.
The...
