This week's GCSE celebrations - as with the A-level ones last week - will be muted somewhat by the lack of opportunities facing young people after they digest their results
City of London chamberlain and chair of the CIPFA local government panel discusses the challenges facing councils; protected areas of public spending; and the abolition of the Audit Commission.
PF blogger and head of local government at Unison discusses employee-owned public services; the impact of spending cuts on women; and the coalition government's record to date.
The latest cost-cutting idea is for speeding fines to be issued by private bodies. But we have to be careful that in the rush to deliver savings today we do not create even bigger problems tomorrow
One of the most disingenuous refrains coming from the coalition is the attempt to compare the UK with Greece, and suggest that unless brutal action is taken we will see interest rates soar as the...
There's no doubt the Audit Commission made a big mistake by employing a lobbying firm. But the subsequent decision by communities secretary Eric Pickles to abolish the watchdog seems both excessive...
So, the Audit Commission is to be abolished. The government had promised a bonfire of the quangos, but few thought the commission would be on the list. Perhaps we should now take more seriously...
News of the abolition of the Audit Commission came as a huge shock. The watchdog took some of the flak for the previous government's obsession with regulation, targets and performance measures. It...
Sir Philip Green has long wanted to run Marks & Spencer. Now he has the consolation prize - he gets to follow in the footsteps of a real M&S boss, Sir Derek Rayner, by becoming the coalition...
The news that Sir Philip Green has been appointed as the prime minister's efficiency czar may have annoyed Vince Cable, but it could cause as much angst to fellow ministers Michael Gove and Andrew...
The coalition has started remarkably well over its first 100 days, but there are big challenges in sustaining the early radical momentum and in winning the domestic political battle for the 'hearts...
The Fawcett Society is taking the government to court over what it believes are spending cuts that disproportionately affect women. Could others follow?
The Local Government Pension Scheme is distinct across the public sector as it is funded. Councils should consider reducing their deficit recovery contributions to pay for front-line services now
Slashing 15,000 jobs and 22% of the budget of the Ministry of Justice will have dire consequences for the Prison Service. Don't be surprised if the pressure cooker is pushed close to the point of...
Anyone who fondly imagined that slashing the deficit was purely a matter for public sector grief should take a look at this week's crop of official statistics. The Bank of England has downgraded its...
The coalition should examine the good work carried out in local government and then compare it with the patchy record of quangos and arm's length agencies. Give councils something to do and you will...
Simplifying the benefits system could reduce error payments by a couple of billion pounds, but it is very likely to also lead to an (at least) offsetting increase in claims
Evidence from the Citizens' Jury shows that the public is hungry for knowledge about the deficit. However, the coalition's communication about the impending spending cuts is ineffective and needs to...
It has taken the Holtham Commission to provide up-to-date data on the public finances in Wales. The National Assembly needs to emulate Scotland and publish detailed annual figures on public spending...
Referendums on council tax increases would damage democracy and destroy the whole point of local elections. One cannot believe in local accountability and in central targets
Our welfare state is being dismantled with indecent haste before our very eyes by aristocrats and the Jimmy Choo'd middle classes who have never had as much as a whiff of what it means to go hungry...
