Council chief executives this week criticised the government's proposed overhaul of child care across Britain, claiming it was 'too limited' and 'overly focused on local government structures'.
Chancellor Gordon Brown has unveiled plans to give senior finance professionals more say in the management of Whitehall departments in an attempt to help them improve their financial performance.
Stronger performance indicators on cutting obesity and smoking, a national strategy on obesity and more resources for public health services are likely to result from the second Wanless Review.
The Audit Commission waded into the bitter council tax row this week with research laying the blame for England's 12.9% average rise in the tax on the government's poor funding system and its...
Devolution is here to stay and is likely to continue to evolve throughout the UK, according to one of the principal architects of the Scottish Executive.
Audit Scotland is to appoint a managing director of audit services, a new post that has been created as part of a major reorganisation, it was disclosed this week.
The first joint public-private partnership between local authorities has ended after 18 months of negotiations, with Northamptonshire County Council walking away citing an 'unbridgeable funding gap'...
The chief executive of the Criminal Records Bureau defended its second hike in fees in nine months this week, claiming the 17% increase would more accurately reflect the costs of the service.
Eric Pickles, the shadow local government secretary, has described this year's council finance settlement as a 'dog's breakfast' and warned that 'serious funding problems' would hamper new education...
Public services viewed by Labour as key 'battlegrounds' in the run-up to the next election received 'below average' reviews in a strategy document released by the Prime Minister's office this week.
As the Lords finally bowed to the will of MPs last week and allowed foundation trusts on to the statute book, any cries of joy from the health service would have been muted.
The Scottish Executive is planning to improve the scrutiny of its budget by providing a performance report to allow MSPs to assess whether targets are being met.
The Scottish Executive is to press ahead with controversial plans to reform the voting system for council elections, bringing the threat of a Labour rebellion and strong opposition from local...
Education ministers were this week urged to widen the scope of pupil assessments, after the National Audit Office discovered that most schools achieve similar standards once factors such as...
Teaching and student unions have poured scorn on the idea that replacing upfront tuition fees with top-up fees will allow young people to 'achieve their full potential'.
The Welsh Assembly has been slammed for having a 'local authority mentality' and not promoting 'experimental policy-making' in a critique by a Cardiff academic.
Honours committees are out of step with modern society and dominated by an elderly, white male elite, according to government policy papers released by an influential committee of MPs.
Local authorities, refugee groups and social workers have condemned controversial plans put forward by the government in this year's Queen's Speech to take the children of failed asylum seekers into...
Chancellor Gordon Brown this week set in motion the roll-out of regional wage settlements across the public services but insisted that changes must be made within existing national pay frameworks.
The government will not impose a single capping threshold on local authorities whose council tax increases are deemed to be excessive, Public Finance has learned, but councils will be expected to...
