A Conservative government would dismantle the 'command state' constructed by the Labour party and radically decentralise public services, according to a policy document setting out the party's reform...
Senior trade unionists have warned that a government forum set up to discuss public services reform will quickly fail unless Labour entertains the idea of direct policy changes.
Met Office officials were in talks with the Department of Health this week to try to save a project that uses weather data to help the NHS cope with seasonal pressures.
Local income tax is to be put forward as a possible means of generating revenue in the Association of London Government's submission to the government's Balance of Funding Review.
The Scottish Executive is to fund an increase in the number of teachers and police officers and take the first steps towards introducing free eye and dental checks as a result of a £525m spending...
Politicians take up their cudgels again on September 8 after their lengthy summer break, and this autumn the fighting is likely to be fiercer than usual.
Local health services should have first call on the extra millions of pounds being ploughed into the NHS, leading primary care organisations said this week.
Royal Mail faces a threat of industrial action from the Communication Workers Union while it tries to fend off plans from regulator Postcomm that it fears will damage its most profitable business.
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has asked for an early meeting to put forward its bid for a share of the Scottish Executive's reported £500m underspend.
Tax increases to fund the government's programme of investment in public services have increased the average household's bill by £4,000 per year since 1997, according to a Right-wing think-tank.
Nearly two-thirds of NHS mental health trusts failed to balance their budgets last year, according to research by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.
The financial data of 18 trusts were...
The National Audit Office will need substantial new resources if it is given the job of assessing whether the government is hitting its plethora of service targets, as MPs demanded this week.
Outsourcing firm Capita has been removed from an information technology contract by Norfolk County Council. The company had provided Norfolk's exchequer, payroll, pensions and operational IT services...
Education managers are urging Whitehall officials to undertake a rigorous analysis of the school funding reforms outlined by Education Secretary Charles Clarke to ensure there is no repeat of this...
It would seem the Department for Education and Skills has learned its lesson.
The funding allocations for schools descended into confusion and mutual recrimination earlier this year, following the...
The government needs to target its proposed hike in higher education cash more effectively to those who need it, a Commons committee claimed this week. It also argued that plans to improve university...
Town hall leaders this week hit out at ministers for relegating councils to the sidelines in the rush to reform public services, and promised to 'fight for local government'.
Scottish Water has defended a controversial scheme to pay bonuses to all of its employees at a time when it is being criticised for soaring charges.
Politicians and business leaders claimed the...
Network Rail has announced plans to cut £1.3bn off its spending by 2006/07 through efficiency savings equivalent to 20% of its costs.
The company issued its business plan in March, in which it...
The controversy over the Inland Revenue's decision to sell its property portfolio to a company based in an offshore tax haven took a new twist this week when the Treasury was asked to clarify...
