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...
The government has confirmed it is to throw another multimillion pound lifeline to the beleaguered private company in charge of Britain's skies.
Under a refinancing deal approved by the Civil...
Private and voluntary sector organisations could apply to become NHS foundation trusts under proposals being put forward by Health Secretary Alan Milburn, it emerged this week.
In a move that will...
Taxpayers will be millions of pounds worse off during the next 30 years because ex-council homes are being renovated by new landlords rather than by local authorities, the National Audit Office said...
Plans to give council and housing association tenants a financial stake in their homes look unlikely to get off the ground after research failed to find support from landlords and lenders.
The...
The government's £40bn public-private investment programme was dealt another blow this week by authoritative claims that potential investors are snubbing the market, following a 'substantial'...
An ambulance service that expanded a temporary staffing pilot into a £60m agency in a rush to meet Whitehall deadlines was left with a £10m deficit, the district auditor reported this week.
A...
Teenagers who speak English as an additional language need greater support to develop their literacy during their examination years, according to Ofsted inspectors.
The education watchdog says many...
The Welsh Assembly has said it will 'consider in depth' a National Audit Office recommendation to restructure the way its NHS directorate procures medicines, after auditors said it could save £50m a...
Kevin Curran, a staunch opponent of government plans to introduce foundation hospitals, has emerged as the favourite to succeed John Edmonds as general secretary of the powerful GMB union later this...
The Fire Brigades Union has two weeks to persuade members to accept a 16% pay deal after a special conference voted overwhelmingly against it in a bruising episode for its ruling executive council...
Education Secretary Charles Clarke has refused to give MPs an undertaking that universities successful in raising money themselves would be protected from a corresponding cut in central government...
The British Medical Association and the NHS Confederation have been forced to revisit the funding formula for GP practices in the proposed new contract amid fears that family doctors could reject the...
The Department of Health will not relax hospitals' performance targets even though most may be asked to treat soldiers injured in the Iraq conflict in addition to their normal work.
Hospitals will...
The Liberal Democrats hope to benefit from Labour's unpopularity over the Iraq crisis and the continuing doldrums of the Tories to make serious gains in May's local elections.
The party's spring...
MPs this week described as 'appalling' the government's delay in informing 6 million people who are expected to retire between 2002 and 2010 of possible cuts to their inherited state pensions.
The...
Prisons have suffered a huge turnover of governors and record sickness levels among staff, the Prison Reform Trust has claimed.
In research published this week, the pressure group said that just...
The Department for Education and Skills has accused the London Borough of Croydon of needlessly withholding money from schools.
In a funding row that shows no signs of abating, Croydon and...
Auditor general Bob Black has found that almost a quarter of the £18.8m claimed in Scotland by providers under the Individual Learning Accounts scheme was probably fraudulent.
The much-criticised...
As the British armed forces gear themselves for a seemingly inevitable conflict in the Gulf, MPs have warned the Ministry of Defence it must equip soldiers properly for extreme conditions following a...
Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith has vowed to scrap NHS waiting list targets if the party wins the next election, under plans outlined in a consultation document.
Tapping into the...
Suspicions among council highways and transport officers that their budgets are being plundered by education and social services colleagues have been reinforced by the Commission for Integrated...
