The coalition government is meant to be revolutionising everything in its sights. But when it comes to ancient constitutional convention, little is changing
As Scotland looks ahead to Holyrood elections in May and the possibility of a new party in power, many are asking whether it is time Labour and the SNP recognised their similarities
The new housing finance policy is not about making councils 'self-financing', so much as 'self-financing subject to a government limit on borrowing'. Much more needs to be done to move to true...
It is useful to compare the performance of developing nations with the rising economic stars of China and India. In both countries there has been sustained state support for accounting as a...
Just before David Cameron moved into Number Ten, he was asked what would happen if his ministers proposed cuts that involved frontline reductions. 'They'll be sent straight back to their departments...
Evidence is mounting that many local authorities and other public agencies are disproportionably cutting grants and contracted funding to the community, voluntary and wider third sectors
It is incumbent on everyone in local government to work together to protect essential services and keep job losses to a minimum. But are finance and HR helping to build sustainable, smaller councils...
A number of Scottish councils appear to have cut corners in their affordability assessments for schools PFI projects. They have made optimistic assessments or failed to assess the availability of...
The triumphant early days of the coalition are rapidly becoming soured by the demands of Cabinet government and political compromise on entwined parties. The strain is showing
Despite their differences, Ed Balls and Ed Miliband can work well together at the top of the Labour Party. The truth is the two Eds need each other and the Tories may come to rue the day they got...
For this government, localism clearly means delegation to anyone but local government. This is creating potentially dysfunctional fragmentation in local services
Draft guidance on PFI contracts, published today, shows the Treasury wants to leave things pretty much as they are. The PFI industry must be pleasantly surprised by the cautiousness of these...
There shouldn't be any surprise that the UK economy shrunk by 0.5% in the final quarter of last year. The best that we can hope for in the foreseeable future is low growth rates occasionally slipping...
George Osborne has finally been found out. Yesterday, outgoing CBI chief Richard Lambert bemoaned the absence of any serious growth strategy in government.
Everyone involved in public services seems to support localism, decentralisation and the Big Society in principle. The problem is a lack of agreement on the role that councils will play
With money drastically limited, and as public sector job losses begin to bite, cleantech's unique potential should be prioritised across Whitehall. DECC, BIS and HM Treasury should be working...
There was probably never a better time than now to revisit the bizarre scene at the end of the Life of Brian, and the advice from the Monty Python team to 'always look on the bright side of life'.
