DAVID LIPSEY | The Conservatives are suddenly beginning to think of themselves as the party of government. That explains shadow chancellor George Osborne’s speech – labelled ‘brave’ – to his party...
MICK FLETCHER | The closer we get to the election – and to the inevitable period of public spending austerity – the louder the criticism for one of the schemes that has made a difference to...
JUDY HIRST | Pity the poor public sector manager. Pilloried by the press as time-wasting penpushers, the people who plan, run and performance-manage our public services are in the direct line of fire...
As the chair of CIPFA’s housing panel, I was interested in housing minister John Healey’s PF blog, reminding readers of the deadline for the consultation on English council housing funding
We have a short memory. Back in the mid-199os, when the first national tests were introduced, there was a national outcry when fewer than half of 11-year olds pupils reached level 4, a level that...
IAN MULHEIRN | For his next trick Lord Turner has turned his hand to solving climate change. The striking if obvious conclusion of this week’s Climate Change Committee report was the authors’...
HEATHER WAKEFIELD| There will not be a collective holding of breath from 1.5 million local government workers on October 26, when Unison lodges its claim for their 2010/11 pay increase
JOHN HEALEY| Every year the calls to get rid of the Housing Revenue Account – the national system controlling local council housing income – get louder
CARL EMMERSON| At the Labour Party conference, Chancellor Alistair Darling proposed a ‘Fiscal Responsibility Act’ to increase confidence that he would reduce government borrowing
MIKE THATCHER| The public finances are under pressure like never before. Whoever wins the election will be forced to make cuts, to prioritise services and find yet more efficiency savings
CHRISTIAN WOLMAR | While most services face a funding standstill, rail investment chugs off in the opposite direction, and even a change in government is unlikely to derail it
It was absolutely important that two of the main political parties decided to raise high the flag of social care at their party conferences this year, and begin seriously to put social care issues...
JON SIBSON | Although there are signs that the recession might be easing, it has taken a heavy toll on the UK’s public finances, with a structural budget deficit of around 10% of gross domestic...
INSTITUTE FOR FISCAL STUDIES | One of David Cameron's key themes in his speech to the Conservative Party conference was that Labour has "made the poorest poorer", "left youth unemployment higher" and...
DAN FINN| At their conference the Conservatives announced a programme to reduce welfare dependency, with specific ‘emergency measures’ to tackle increased unemployment.
PETER RIDDELL | It’s going to be action replay in the Commons in the next couple of months
as the painful issue of MPs’ expenses comes back with a vengeance
STEPHEN COURT | As a teenager, the shadow chancellor changed his name from Gideon Osborne to George Osborne. He may need to change it again to Samson to give him strength to cope with the hostility...
