New Labour has embraced the world of management consultancy with great enthusiasm. But what has the public sector got back in return? Former management consultant David Craig offers a user-friendly...
Contrary to popular opinion, the government has successfully used IT to transform a variety of services, from electronic payment of benefits to the Jobcentre Plus Job Bank. And the transformation...
Spending cuts of £350m, to budgets such as public health and training, will be used to wipe out this year's forecast NHS overspend of £333m, figures published by the Department of Health reveal.
Councils are warning that they are being starved of vital resources to fund basic services because of the government's inability to produce accurate immigration figures.
The proposal to open NHS commissioning to private companies envisages that primary care trusts will be able to choose whether or not to use these services. But PCTs look likely to be pressed to do...
In these straitened times, it is no surprise that finance directors are looking to make savings on insurance. Many organisations are now planning to ditch traditional insurers for a pooled approach...
Having been quick to judge the rest of the public sector, Whitehall now faces similar scrutiny. And it hasn't fared well. Colin Talbot looks at the impact of capability reviews and applies his own...
High levels of public spending are exacerbating regional economic disparities and leading to dependency on central government handouts in some areas, according to a free market think-tank, Reform.
The Department of Health should return part of the £504m deducted from the deficit-hit NHS under its application of the Resource Accounting and Budgeting regime, the Audit Commission has said.
The Department of Health's finance director Richard Douglas has admitted to MPs that the apparent sudden deterioration in the NHS's finances is a product of changes in accountancy practice.
The city-regions agenda has been thrown into doubt after two of the chancellor's closest political allies this week revealed their 'deep scepticism' at its viability as a model.
Regional aid budgets face a shake-up as the EU adapts its funding system to deal with enlargement. This is likely to hit areas with fragile economies unless the government offers councils a safety...
The Department of Health has admitted that its payment by results hospital funding scheme has led to a deterioration in care for older people, has 'not worked' for specialist children's hospitals and...
Mental health trusts have been asked to curb their spending to help other parts of the NHS balance their books, according to the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.
Public sector trade unions this week attacked Chancellor Gordon Brown's proposed four-year pay freeze for 6 million staff, claiming that many people could face real-term cuts until 2011.
Sir Jeremy Beecham's review shows that reform of public services in Wales is on the right track but needs to progress further and faster. The Welsh Assembly Government welcomes the challenge
This week's call for means-tested charges for NHS services is wrong-headed. Such a move would raise few funds, deter the wrong people from using health care, and undermine the consensus that backs...
The police service is breathing a sigh of relief that it has been saved a costly and unnecessary restructuring but it still faces a catastrophic funding crisis from 2008. Chief constable Tim Brain...
It seems that time is running out for the big regeneration programmes. But, despite government rhetoric about 'mainstreaming', practitioners fear that their resources might not transfer into the...
One of devolved Scotland's first major policies was free personal care for the elderly. Four years on, how has it fared and does it offer any lessons for the rest of the UK? David Scott reports
Sure Start, tax credits, baby bonds. Gordon Brown has not been idle on the social policy front while he waits for his chance at the premiership. But what kind of legacy will the longest-serving...
Social care is often described as the Cinderella service. So will Ivan Lewis, the fourth to wear the ministerial shoes in just five years, turn out to be its Prince Charming? Sally Gainsbury went to...
