The prime minister has set out 'radical' plans to 'put more power in the hands of patients' treated by the NHS, as a Healthcare Commission hospital patient survey revealed wide variations in patient...
The public finances will be left in increasing disarray next year as a result of Chancellor Alistair Darling's May 13 decision to borrow £2.7bn to fund a tax cut for low- and middle-income households...
Gordon Brown has set out a draft legislative programme combining a new wave of public service reforms with measures aimed at reassuring the public that they will be shielded from the worst of the...
The May 1 election results gave Labour a bloody nose and shook up the political landscape. It also reflected voters' feeling that local authorities have precious little power.
In the year since Sir Michael Lyons set out his vision for the future of local government, ministers have launched initiatives to boost the 'place-shaping' role of councils. But the funding conundrum...
Government departments pushing for 'personalised' public services need to set up rigorous systems to assess the so far unproven cost-effectiveness of a 'user-driven' approach, MPs have warned.
Up to half of the people who moved to the UK from the 2004 European Union accession countries have already left, according to research from the Institute for Public Policy Research. The think-tank's...
One certain result of Labour's rout in the May 1 elections is that it will become a tax-cutting party - or, at least, seek to portray itself as one ahead of a likely 2010 general election.
The government could find itself caught out by its own fiscal rules if the delayed introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards means that Private Finance Initiative debt goes on the...
A huge increase in the cost to local authorities of initiating care proceedings for vulnerable children has been approved, in the face of opposition from the legal profession.
The Westminster government should restore £30m in benefits withdrawn from elderly people in Scotland when Holyrood introduced free personal care, according to the architect of the flagship policy.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services union will consider escalating their action against the government's public sector pay cap at their annual conference later this month.
Keeping citizens' data centrally seemed such a good idea. It could help to catch terrorists, protect children, save patients' lives, and stop people from providing the same details to different...
The minority Scottish National Party government is facing further problems over its controversial plans for a local income tax after being forced to include alternatives in its consultation.
A simulated market for carbon trading between local authorities will open for business at the end of the month, as a pathfinder for what will be a legal requirement in two years' time.
An employment think-tank has claimed that interest rates and inflation are lower as a result of high immigration, just weeks after a House of Lords committee questioned the national economic benefit...
Public debate about the current financial crisis has developed a hysterical tone because commentators have forgotten the events of recent decades that would put today's economic turmoil into...
Local government is the biggest employer in the UK but too few graduates dream of a career in it. Add a shortage of young talent to an ageing top management and councils have a problem. Chris Leslie...
Chancellor Alistair Darling has met his borrowing target for 2007/08 according to the latest public finance figures, providing some much-needed good news for the government on the economy.
