The chancellor promised real-terms protection for schools, but that has not materialised. Across the country, it could mean the loss of tens of thousands of school staff
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles claims the maximum funding reductions are 8.9%. But in this season of pantomime, councils are shouting back 'oh no, it isn't' . Pointing to the detailed...
Management and back-office costs are set to be hammered in the quest to protect frontline services. But is anyone taking the trouble to work out exactly what the impact of those reductions will be?
Yesterday we saw what localism means for the coalition government: localising the bill for the financial and economic crisis caused not by government but by the banks
The Audit Commission has gone into tortoise mode since Eric Pickles and his teenage special advisers put the boot in. But the hyper caution must not lead auditors to pull their punches
Far from hanging by its fingertips, the PFI is set for a resurgence in 2011. With the state of the public finances as they are, the coalition cannot afford it any other way
The Localis survey of local authority finance directors paints a sad and dismal tale. It beggars belief that FDs were so surprised at the level of cuts to central grants announced in the CSR
Given the nation's obsession with eating and drinking, is it really feasible for councils to make any difference on public health issues such as obesity?
Scottish students might not be directly affected by the increase in tuition fees that their English counterparts face. But they have good reason to protest given the likely introduction of some form...
What a year it was. A new form of government, hitherto unseen reform of the public sector and a huge reduction programme. By this time next year, we will know how successful it all was
The coalition presents itself as a clean break from Labour’s command-and-control regime. But its fascination with Spending Reviews, business plans and milestones tells a different story
Bitter Irish resentment, anger and suspicion over the bailout process and yesterday's austerity budget may be just the beginning of the coming political backlash in Europe
Student finance issues have gained all the attention, but the coalition is really focused on the effective privatisation of universities and forcing financially-based competition on them
Mervyn King's indiscretions, reported on Wikileaks, will not bring him down. But the governor might be found out by the inflation that follows from the Bank of England's policy of monetary expansion
In a period where public bodies are likely to be pressurised into taking imprudent decisions for short-term budgetary concerns, the role of the external auditor will be key
The decision to publish the Localism Bill on the same day as the local authority grant settlement could be seen as a clever piece of joined-up government or cynical manipulation depending on your...
The government's plan to introduce an official wellbeing or happiness measure is a great opportunity to embed localism. A 'wealth' index would give us all the chance to understand how our places are...
The Welsh Assembly Government has played a blinder in deciding not to raise tuition fees. It shows that Welsh politicians are more in touch with their constituents than their English counterparts
The move to install publicly-elected police commissioners is in full swing - but against a backdrop of widespread cuts and with estimates that the latest plans will cost £130m in the first year alone...
David Cameron has launched a quest to find a measure of wellbeing that can be used as an indicator of our national performance - and be used as a measure of the success of government policy. But...
While beleaguered public sector organisations will be keen to show they can tackle the problem, businesses and banks are sure to bare their teeth at the hint of government action
