Gordon Brown's public sector spending plans were dealt a potential blow this week when it was revealed that the chancellor had exceeded his £20bn annual borrowing forecasts with three months left of...
The government is coming under increasing pressure to launch a wide-ranging review of the Private Finance Initiative, following the publication of last week's critical Audit Commission report into...
Talks were due to resume on January 23, with sources expecting them to spill over to the following day in an attempt to avert a 48-hour strike scheduled for January 28. The union held a 24-hour...
The row over the 'two-tier workforce' has been reignited with the government postponing publication of its long-awaited employment code after both unions and the private sector accused ministers of...
A London council is threatening legal action because it is angry at the price paid by tenants who purchase their homes under the right to buy housing subsidy scheme.
The government should resist the temptation to introduce any further structural changes or new policies to the NHS, according to an influential Leftwing think-tank.
As the Fire Brigades Union heads towards a resumption of its strike programme, Prime Minister Tony Blair has maintained his tough stance, saying the stoppages are 'wrong, dangerous and unjustified'.
The Private Finance Initiative offers few benefits to education, and high-performing councils should be given the freedom to explore other methods of procurement, the Audit Commission concluded in a...
Westminster City Council has accused the Office for National Statistics of refusing to allow ministers to see data that could be crucial in resolving their dispute over the 2001 census.
Voluntary organisations have slammed the troubled Criminal Records Bureau for providing a poor service. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations said its members had 'an extreme lack of...
Local government leaders and ministers will shortly agree the terms of reference for the long-awaited balance of funding review, allowing work finally to get under way.
The Fire Brigades Union this week demanded amendments to the Bain report in what could be the first indication that firefighters may be willing to compromise on modernisation.
A Liberal Democrat MP is demanding an inquiry after the finance director of St George's NHS Trust in London was sacked because of his 'management style'.
Local authorities are protesting to the government after having their budgets for housing investment cut. While total housing expenditure is increasing by 6% in 2003/04, some councils are worse off...
The government is to take 'key' right-to-buy rules out of primary legislation to allow ministers to react more quickly to market trends and shortages in housing, according to a leaked letter from...
Local government leaders have gone on the offensive over this year's finance settlement amid fears that increases in education funding could mean other services are starved of cash.
One in six teachers say they will not be in the classroom in five years' time because of excessive workloads and too many targets, research has revealed.
The pressures involved in recruiting and retaining Britain's best teachers are already plentiful, but UK education officials now face stiff competition from a most unlikely source the US's deprived...
