Conservative proposals to abandon the government’s Flexible New Deal jobs programme and replace it with an untried alternative are irresponsible, Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper has said
The main parties’ health spokesmen took centre stage during the conference season. But as we head towards an election, they will need to spell out how to maintain quality while making necessary...
Economists have predicted that only ‘extreme’ options could fill the huge hole in the public finances, such as a 7p income tax hike, a five-year public sector pay freeze and savage service cuts
Forget the bonfire of the quangos, it’s managers and back-office staff who are in politicians’
line of fire now. But can layers of ‘bureaucrats’ really be taken out without harming services
on the...
Improved financial management in the NHS has left it well placed to tackle looming economic challenges, the new care watchdog has said in its first major assessment of the health service’s performance
The collapse of Iceland’s banks forced a rethink of local authority investment strategies. A year on, many councils are putting safety before returns, others are still skating on the edge and...
Neither the government nor the Opposition are yet being realistic about driving down government debt, a leading economist has told senior public sector financial managers
A one-year public sector pay freeze, as proposed by shadow chancellor George Osborne this week, risks widening the gap between public and private sector salaries, an employment expert has warned
The Welsh Assembly Government has announced it will protect health and youth employment budgets from cuts while spending across the public sector is restrained
Batten down the hatches, the worst is yet to come. Even if the recession is now over, there are mounting social and financial pressures on the UK. Only radical government action can avert disaster,...
Much more dramatic spending cuts than those already signalled are inevitable if the Conservatives are serious about reducing public borrowing, economists have warned
Government figures have revealed huge variations in local authority’s efficiency savings, while experts have warned that they are distorted by ‘smoke and mirrors’
Conservatives gather next week knowing they need to spell out plans for austerity government. They’re taking tips from Tory ‘easyCouncils’
on how to get more for less. Philip Johnston asks whether...
With a spending squeeze looming, public sector leaders should take the initiative now to ensure any changes are on their terms. Gill Hunter advises on the best way to go about it
