Tolerance for diverse ethnic and religious traditions has long been part of Britain's multicultural society, writes Ann Rossiter. But community cohesion is being seriously undermined and the causes...
Launching the report of his inquiry into local government finance in Scotland, Sir Peter Burt the current chair of ITV repeated several times what he saw as a main attraction of his proposed new...
Experts have predicted another tough financial year for the NHS in England after the Department of Health published the payment by results tariff increases for 2007/08.
The Revenue and Customs department this week launched a £2.5bn review that will initiate thousands more civil service job cuts and close offices across the UK over the next five years.
Far from being on its way out, the Private Finance Initiative has never been in ruder health. As well as strengthening its role in health and education, it is elbowing its way into new areas such as...
Best Value audits in Scotland do not rely on narrow performance indicators nor are they obsessed with processes, contrary to claims in a recent PF article. They are well-rounded aids to help...
Against all the odds, the local government white paper not only turned up, it also went further than expected on the path to devolution, argues Chris Leslie
Health and education took a back seat in the Queen's Speech, but the absence of a Bill merging the health and social care inspectorates drew confused responses.
Council tax in Scotland should be replaced by a new property tax requiring householders to pay 0.9% of the value of their home annually, the Burt committee on the future of local government finance...
Town halls this week set out their wish list for economic devolution within the context of the sector's white paper urging ministers to establish new funding streams for sub-regional transport,...
Local authorities, central government and parents must broaden their sights in the fight against antisocial behaviour and focus on prevention as well as punishment, Whitehall's 'respect' czar...
A leading Whitehall contractor was this week accused of breaking employment rules when it announced more compulsory redundancies involving civil service jobs that are being taken offshore.
Wales was always bound to go its own distinctive way on the issue of public service reform. Now, as the Welsh Assembly Government prepares to respond to his review, Sir Jeremy Beecham explains why
The white paper is done and dusted. Now it's time for Sir Michael Lyons to put some financial meat on the bare bones of local government reform. He should focus on capping, council tax and the...
Council rents are expected to rise by up to 5% after the government announced that local authorities will receive an extra £132m for managing and maintaining their homes.
For years, the NHS has been living off the fat of the land. But now, lean times are almost upon it, and managers need to look for far greater efficiency savings, says Noel Plumridge
Despite a doubling of spending on the NHS, the public perception is one of a cash-strapped organisation in crisis. Richard Brooks explains how what should be a good news story for the government has...
A surge in new medical treatments combined with an ageing population mean the demands on the NHS are set to rise just as it faces a financial squeeze. A co-payments system, with built-in protection...
In many ways, the NHS has never had it so good. But that's not what the public thinks. Public Finance and Deloitte convened a round table of health service policy makers and practitioners to explore...
It's one thing to demand that local authorities prove they have achieved desired outcomes, but quite another to do it. Arthur Midwinter argues for a more realistic approach to performance measurement...
