The Home Office has rejected the key recommendation from an inspection of asylum seeker detention centres that children should not be held for longer than seven days.
Chief inspector of prisons...
Thirty finalists have been selected by the judges of the Public Servants of the Year Awards to go forward to the final ceremony in London next month.
The finalists come from all parts of the public...
Gordon Brown opened a new front in the government's ongoing battles with trade unions this week when he used his Budget statement to indicate a move towards regional pay settlements.
Twenty-two luminaries from the world of local government are to scrutinise how Whitehall funds town halls, as the balance of funding review finally got under way this week.
Local government...
Local government minister Nick Raynsford this week provided further details of his long-awaited overhaul of councillors' allowances, giving authorities the chance to set their own remuneration deals...
Rail unions have reacted with dismay to revelations that firms involved in the controversial part-privatisation of the London Underground will be fined just £4m for major disruption on the network...
Senior civil servants have warned ministers they will be 'extremely concerned' if the government does not accept the main findings of a Parliamentary report slamming the use of spin doctors across...
Government reform of unemployment services, announced in this week's Budget, could lead to 'widespread short-termism' across the sector, the leading civil servants' union has claimed.
Officials at...
The Liberal Democrats pledged to abolish council tax and replace it with a locally set income tax, as they launched their campaign on March 31 for the May council elections.
Local government...
The government's transport policy is destined for failure unless it sets out its intentions on road pricing and presents a credible plan for cutting pollution and congestion, a committee of MPs has...
The Prison Service is missing out on potential savings because its procurement procedures are too fragmented, according to the National Audit Office.
The public spending watchdog found that while...
Neglect by the former Railtrack has landed its public interest successor with a soaring infrastructure bill.
Network Rail's business plan, published on March 31, showed that maintenance, operating...
Social landlords must overcome their poor public image and develop a new profile as independent social businesses, the chair of the National Housing Federation has told housing association managers...
The billions of pounds of taxpayers' money being pumped into the NHS is improving the service, Health Secretary Alan Milburn insisted this week.
In a pre-emptive strike aimed at critics of the 1%...
Private lenders are being offered fewer opportunities to fund new social housing because of uncertainty over stock transfers.
With many councils keen to set up arm's-length management organisations...
Unison leaders said they were confident that members would support the government's Agenda for Change programme on pay and conditions in the NHS, despite rumblings of a major revolt at next week's...
Council tenants wishing to buy their homes under the right to buy scheme will need to have lived in the house for five years instead of two in future, the government announced this week.
The...
Patients who are not satisfied with NHS trusts' handling of complaints will be able to ask the new Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (Chai) to undertake an independent review, health...
The Comprehensive Performance Assessment system is to undergo major reform before the next round of full local government inspections in three years' time.
Former London Transport chair Denis Tunnicliffe has rejoined the rail sector as chair of the Rail Safety and Standards Board, which started work on April 1.
It replaces Railway Safety, which was...
A West Country health authority faces a £59m deficit as a result of incompetent financial management, inspectors have found.
A report from district auditor Stephen Malyn shows that the deficit...
Town hall leaders are to mount a campaign against government plans for foundation hospitals, claiming they could dilute their own democratic mandate.
As Public Finance went to press, the...
Government ministers should not commit themselves to meeting the targets set out in their departments' public service agreements (PSAs) because it is counterproductive, Estelle Morris has warned....
Violence and aggression against staff could be costing the NHS £69m a year, the National Audit Office said this week.
In a report, A safer place to work: protecting NHS hospital and ambulance staff...
Government proposals aimed at preventing the £29bn pensions 'timebomb' from exploding are not radical enough, ministers were warned this week.
Final submissions on Work and Pensions Secretary...
