Plans to increase the financial powers of Scotland’s Parliament amount to the most dramatic change in taxation ever envisaged by the UK Treasury, Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy told the CIPFA in...
The government is offering commitments on skills training for young people at the same time as making wholesale changes to the structure of further education funding. Can this be done at a time of...
Has Alistair Darling’s Budget done enough to rein in public spending? Economists, as ever, are divided. In this first of three features on the changing UK economy, Roger Latham and Malcolm Prowle...
The government has rejected calls from the European Commission for a swifter crackdown on the UK deficit, amid speculation that better than expected benefit claimant figures could give the chancellor...
Public borrowing rose less than expected in February, according to official figures out today, giving the government a boost ahead of next week’s Budget
Ministers should publish figures showing liabilities under the Private Finance Initiative alongside regular statistics on public sector debt, the Lords economic affairs select committee has urged.
Evidence from the Total Place pilots shows that the government's big new idea for funding local services will need nurturing in Whitehall. Chris Leslie and Nigel Keohane explain why it means change...
The government is risking its credit rating being downgraded by not taking ‘faster and deeper’ action to cut the public deficit, a leading economist has warned
Economists are predicting a Budget of ‘masterly or not so masterly inactivity’ when Chancellor Alistair Darling puts his proposals to Parliament on March 24.
Taxpayer-funded pension payouts for retired teachers, civil servants, health workers and members of the armed forces are set to top £79bn a year within 50 years, the National Audit Office has warned.
The UK’s deficit needs to be addressed and neither main party has a credible plan. Ahead of this month’s Budget, Tony Dolphin says it would be dangerous to implement more cuts now but there is an...
Plans to give Scotland additional tax powers contain a fatal flaw. A built-in perverse incentive means that the Holyrood government would be less inclined to adopt a fiscal stimulus and could,...
A new Welsh efficiency drive will foster innovation and collaboration in areas where not enough is being done, the minister leading the scheme has told Public Finance
A new Welsh efficiency drive will foster innovation and collaboration in areas where not enough is being done, the minister leading the scheme has told Public Finance
Supporters of national pay bargaining say it ensures fair and equal wages across the UK. But critics are squaring up, arguing that it distorts the labour market and fails to recognise cost of living...
The government and Opposition both claim the NHS will be safe in their hands. But just how protected will health budgets really be as the spending squeeze tightens? Tash Shifrin reports on threats of...
Scotland’s first minister has warned the UK government that it must not impose further spending cuts on the country or it will seriously damage services and economic recovery.
Charities are declaring that their time has come, with Whitehall lauding their merits. But, although greater service provision could improve quality, it is unlikely to make savings
A government ‘of any stripe’ should claw back recent benefit rises and restrict child benefits for better-off families to save £6.5bn, a Right-wing think-tank has urged
