Plans by the Scottish government to freeze council tax and cut business rates will cost more than £1.3bn over the next three years, according to a leading public finance commentator and former...
Councils are being urged to begin candid discussions with their residents about the imminent possibility of cuts in social care services following next month's Comprehensive Spending Review.
All nationally set targets should be scrapped under a new covenant between central and local government, the Liberal Democrat annual conference in Brighton agreed this week.
Housing associations have said they are willing to increase their borrowing to fund the construction of new housing providing they can raise rents faster and sell thousands of new homes on the open...
The role of shadowing Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney has been split between two MSPs in the shadow Cabinet appointed this week by the new Labour leader, Wendy Alexander.
The grumblings from public sector trade unions are growing louder as Gordon Brown prepares for his first Labour Party conference as prime minister next week. But the strike threats over the pay rise...
After the fallout from Northern Rock, next month's Comprehensive Spending Review has suddenly become a lot more interesting. Colin Talbot charts the changes ahead for public spending and targets...
No wonder the King's Fund had to take it upon themselves to commission Sir Derek Wanless's review of progress against his 2002 recommendations on funding the NHS.
Public servants could co-ordinate a fresh wave of strikes to coincide with the Queen's Speech, as opposition to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's 2% pay cap intensified following heated exchanges at the...
The local government balance of funding issue is 'irrelevant' and it would be best if all the money were raised centrally and distributed to councils, Sir Peter Burt has told leading revenue...
Just over half of the buildings in Scotland's higher education sector are in poor condition and require expenditure of almost £700m to bring them up to standard, a public sector watchdog has found.
The annual costs to the NHS of Private Finance Initiative schemes will soar fivefold from £470m to £2.3bn over the next eight years and could damage services, Edinburgh University researchers claim.
Gordon Brown and David Cameron might make out they are miles apart when it comes to education policies. But former No 10 adviser Conor Ryan finds plenty of common ground
It seemed a good idea to some at the time but now support for a Planning Gain Supplement is waning. Tim Williams explains why, and suggests alternatives
The expansion of Wales' public sector is turning the principality into one of the dynamic 'knowledge economies' driving UK growth, a report by the Work Foundation has concluded.
& nothing gained. Or so say the growing army of private equity investors in public services and assets. Paul Gosling explores the pros and cons of such partnerships for the public sector
The Comprehensive Spending Review offers the government the chance to grasp the nettle of railway investment and finally set out a long-term transport strategy. It won't come a moment too soon
Do Whitehall figures understate the socioeconomic impact of immigration? More precise local-level monitoring and checks on outward migration will give an answer, the agencies involved say
Local government and health unions have edged closer to pay deals that would breach the Treasury's 2% limit but this week's illegal strikes by prison officers have highlighted the public sector's...
There has been one gaping hole in Labour's devolution success: the English regions. RDAs and non-elected assemblies have not lived up to expectations and the new PM is looking to give more powers to...
