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.
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...
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...
Teaching unions have described Education Secretary Charles Clarke's overhaul of tests for primary school children as an 'awkward halfway house' that will give the false impression that the government...
Growing mistrust of public bodies is being prompted by suspicions that they are not open and honest with service users, the Audit Commission has warned.
Research by pollster Mori has found that,...
Government plans to dock the housing benefit of tenants who indulge in antisocial behaviour have met a hostile response from local authorities and housing associations.
Work and Pensions Secretary...
The Local Government Association will use its annual conference in Harrogate in July to highlight authorities' fears they are being sidelined in the debate over asylum seekers.
A motion, proposed...
The government is creating a new NHS internal market and it is unclear whether it will lead to better patient care, the King's Fund claimed this week.
Ministers have consistently denied they are...
Councils could be given powers to take charge of empty homes and rent them to families in need.
Proposals to make better use of England's 300,000 long-standing empty homes were outlined on May 22...
It has had more false starts than the 1993 Grand National, but the end now finally looks in sight for the year-long firefighters' dispute.
In what has turned into a bitter test of union, central...
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are threatening to join forces in the House of Lords to scupper government plans to curtail jury trials.
This followed a Commons vote on May 19 that slashed...
