The structure of local government, as well as how it is run and financed are all under scrutiny. This offers the perfect opportunity to explore lasting reforms after years of tinkering, argue Frank...
As the axe falls on thousands of frontline NHS posts, the government faces a huge row over the impact on clinical care. Seamus Ward visits a health trust about to shed 1,200 posts and hears both...
Free further education for 19 25-year-olds and a radical white paper suggest that the long-neglected college sector is finally getting its day in the sun. But what about the funding gap, asks...
Ministers should explore new ways of using individuals' assets, such as housing and other inheritances, to help fund future welfare reforms, a leading think-tank has claimed.
NHS organisations reporting deficits in their final accounts for 2005/06 will be penalised by a sum equivalent to 110% of their overspend, Public Finance has learnt.
A US study into the educational attainment of mothers and their children could have 'important implications' for UK schools policy, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Civil service trade unions this week accused the Department for Work and Pensions of withdrawing a commitment to avoid compulsory redundancies in implementing the government's £40bn efficiency...
The next Conservative government will not run public services 'from a desk in Whitehall' and will give frontline organisations the freedom to make decisions in response to local circumstances, Oliver...
As Prime Minister Tony Blair called in health chiefs for a summit on deficits on April 12, new evidence of serious problems emerged with a damning report on the NHS in Wales.
Two deficit-ridden primary care trusts in Wiltshire have withdrawn up to £3m of social care funding from the local authority with just 14 hours' notice.
Senior officials from four Whitehall departments have been appointed to a new public-private steering group that will advise ministers on information security policies such as biometric passports and...
Patient Choice sounds great in theory, particularly when the likes of Julian Le Grand explain it. But we have to take care to avoid rushing into an untried and uncertain solution to the problems of...
Below-inflation staged pay awards. A new government committee to vet all deals. Is this an incomes policy in all but name? Alastair Hatchett explains why and how the Treasury is getting tough on...
Got a problem that needs sorting? You could do worse than ask the senior Cabinet Office minister in charge of most things. Mark Conrad talks to the amiable all-rounder
Senior civil servants this week threatened to launch a series of equal pay tribunals following what they described as a 'depressing' 2006 settlement that does not address the two-tier pay regime...
The FE white paper rightly recognises that adults and young people have different learning needs. But more needs to be done to provide adult learners with greater choice and lighter-touch planning
The latest guidance issued to councils on 'efficiency gains' is clearer and acknowledges the importance of quality. But there are still gaps, not least how all these savings should be measured....
Rumours of the PFI's death have been greatly exaggerated. With its lengthy inflexible contracts and high annual costs, its days were looking numbered in an era of choice. But then Gordon Brown came...
Pensions experts have attacked leaked government proposals for life insurance firms to manage billions of pounds of retirement assets as part of a potential compromise over the national savings...
Government attempts to speed up planning decisions must not overlook the need for house building to keep pace with economic growth, social landlords said this week.
A top firm of accountants is being called in to examine the finances of Scottish Enterprise after the disclosure that the economic development agency has overspent by £30m.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats this week set out their stalls for the local elections on May 4 and immediately attacked one another's record in local government.
Primary school pupils could be measured against individual development targets under plans to boost social mobility being considered by the Cabinet Office, Public Finance has learnt.
