The local government pay talks were hanging in the balance this week, with both sides refusing to yield an inch as the final scheduled meeting got under way.
The Local Government Association and ministers are to agree a set of shared priorities for service delivery that will act as a 'coherent framework' governing councils' activities.
London boroughs could lose up to £250m in central government support each year unless the council tax system is fundamentally overhauled, Public Finance has learned.
The Greater London Authority's Labour-led transport operations scrutiny committee has castigated Mayor Ken Livingstone for spending too much time opposing the part-privatisation of the Tube, while...
London Mayor Ken Livingstone's decision this week to introduce congestion charges on the capital's crammed roads could pave the way for other big cities to follow.
Details have emerged of a spat involving the Treasury, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and sports minister Richard Caborn over the departure of Sport England's chief executive with a...
A sense of commitment among public sector managers and staff is vital if services are to continue to improve, the Public Services Productivity Panel said this week.
An investigation into the operation and winding-up of a quango set up to regenerate the Northeast of England has revealed a startling lack of government co-ordination and oversight.
The government's New Deal has had a beneficial effect on levels of youth employment and the economy in general, according to auditor general Sir John Bourn.
A Commons' committee this week condemned the 'appalling state' of Britain's parks and open spaces and called for a revision of planning policies to overcome 'institutional obstacles' to improvements...
The government will be forced to make further payouts to prop up the National Air Traffic Services until the airlines that took a 46% stake in the part-privatised service have recovered their costs,...
Employers and unions are calling on the government to clarify the terms under which local authority housing staff will be expected to transfer to new arm's-length management organisations (Almos).
Leader of the Commons Robin Cook has backed what he called the most fundamental overhaul ever of select committees. The modernisation committee, which Cook chairs, recommends limiting party...
Local government representatives have urged the government to tackle the 'grim' state of social care and fill the struggling service's £200m funding gap.
Cannabis-based pain relief drugs could be approved for use in the NHS on prescription by 2004 or 2005 after the Department of Health this week included them in new remedies referred to the National...
English councils face the prospect of double-digit rises in council tax to fund police services after claims that David Blunkett's national policing plan is incompatible with local forces'...
The Inland Revenue has been forced to take cost-cutting measures because of a mistake by officials in the department's spending submission to the Treasury, according to Whitehall sources.
Home Secretary David Blunkett's plan to beef up police forces in England and Wales by using civilian warden patrols is an impractical 'tinderbox' that will encounter legal difficulties, according to...