Scottish Water has defended a controversial scheme to pay bonuses to all of its employees at a time when it is being criticised for soaring charges.
Politicians and business leaders claimed the...
The possibility of a merger of the ombudsman services for local authorities, central government and health has receded indefinitely, local government ombudsman Tony Redmond has complained in his...
The Inland Revenue lacks ambition in its target of persuading half of all employers to pay tax and national insurance by the due date each month, according to the Commons' Public Accounts Committee...
Network Rail has announced plans to cut £1.3bn off its spending by 2006/07 through efficiency savings equivalent to 20% of its costs.
The company issued its business plan in March, in which it...
Imposed targets and growing local autonomy must proceed hand-in-hand to improve public services, a study of some of England's best councils concludes.
The Improvement and Development Agency,...
Threatening to prosecute parents has caused a marked reduction in classroom truancy, the government claimed this week.
Figures from the Department for Education and Skills on July 2 showed that...
Hopes that a deal on consultants' terms and conditions could be struck were raised this week when the new health secretary invited doctors' leaders to a meeting to discuss the way forward.
Westminster City Council has spent more money in the past 18 months trying to trace the assets of its disgraced former leader Dame Shirley Porter than it has been able to recover.
Allegations...
Struggling housing departments should be offered a cash incentive to improve their performance, according to the president of the Chartered Institute of Housing.
Andrew Gray, director of housing...
The way that public money has been given to homeowners to improve dilapidated properties in Wales has proved susceptible to fraud, and changes to be introduced next month could escalate problems,...
CIPFA has described as 'significant' the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's intention to publish draft regulations for the prudential borrowing code next month.
Maureen Wellen, the institute'...
A 'fuel poverty' scheme has misdirected millions of pounds of public money, and its eligibility rules bear no clear relation to applicants' need, a National Audit Office review has found.
The NAO...
GPs are pushing for changes to the new contract they accepted overwhelmingly last week.
Though 79.4% of GPs voted in favour of the new contract, British Medical Association GP leader Dr John...
The controversy over the Inland Revenue's decision to sell its property portfolio to a company based in an offshore tax haven took a new twist this week when the Treasury was asked to clarify...
The inquiry into the vastly over-budget Holyrood Parliament project in Edinburgh will identify the lessons to be learned for the future procurement or construction of major public buildings, First...
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 Audit Commission has given in to pressure from council leaders and scaled back plans to increase the thresholds between performance categories when the Comprehensive Performance Assessments are...
The NHS Confederation has called on the new health secretary to back the sector's managers and help fight the destructive myths about 'bureaucrats and pen-pushers'.
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.
