The National Audit Office should be able to inspect private companies involved in NHS public-private partnerships as part of a tighter regulatory regime of the initiative, the King's Fund said this...
Local authority trade unions have rejected outright employers' demands to give up their right to unilateral arbitration to resolve pay talks, raising the spectre of another bitter dispute this year.
Two London boroughs are considering creating neighbourhood-level service commissioning bodies, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research which is advising them.
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has ordered the Performance and Innovation Unit at the Cabinet Office to conduct a review of British bids for major sporting events in an effort to avoid repeating the...
Bob Kiley, the Transport for London commissioner, has launched a bid to take control of London's overground rail commuter lines and stations in the post-Railtrack era.
Central government must invest in the voluntary sector if it wants to see more not-for-profit organisations involved in the delivery of public services, according to one of the sector's leaders.
A new 'star ratings' system is to be introduced for England's 150 social services departments, with rewards for the best performers and punishments for the worst.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Andrew Smith has hinted that the guidelines governing public-private partnerships will be reformed to encourage more investment from the private sector.
Ministers are preparing to force mayoral referendums in more than half a dozen councils next month as the momentum to get more London-style, directly elected leaders in place gathers pace.
Jobs could be under threat at Brighton & Hove Council as the long-running 'Bingate' saga concluded with councillors deciding to take the service back in-house.
Patrick Carter, the businessman turned sporting power broker, has criticised Britain's ad hoc approach to hosting sporting events and called for the creation of a body to co-ordinate bidding strategy...
Local government minister Nick Raynsford has dashed local authorities' hopes of early legislation giving them the freedom to borrow money for capital projects.
Councils' ability to respond to emergencies in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the US is being undermined by a lack of government funding, officials claim.
GPs have increased the pressure on the government and NHS employers by threatening to hand in their notice if their new contract does not increase pensions and cut workloads.
European Commission vice-president Neil Kinnock has called on the European Parliament and the European Union's Council of Ministers to introduce legislation quickly to put in place his reform...
English local authorities are demanding a substantial increase in next year's finance settlement if they are to avert major service cuts and huge hikes in council tax.
The outgoing chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, Sir Alastair Morton, has told MPs that the government should seize on the demise of Railtrack as an opportunity to restructure fundamentally...
Public services were firmly back at the top of the political agenda this week as the Commons Public Administration Select Committee announced a full inquiry into the government's reform programme.
