You wouldn't know it, but the NHS Plan had its fifth birthday this week. There were no celebrations and ministers ignored the occasion. So what ever happened to this 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity...
Schoolchildren from the poorest families are failing to match the attainment levels of their more affluent counterparts, the education secretary admitted this week.
Economists and opposition politicians are demanding that the government's fiscal policy be assessed by an independent body and based on statistics free from suspicion of political interference, after...
Government plans to cap eight councils' budgets received the go-ahead in the High Court this week when an appeal for a judicial review by South Cambridgeshire District Council failed.
Teachers, doctors, nurses and police officers accounted for just 27% of the 585,000 rise in public sector employment between 1998 and 2004, according to a new study.
Senior mandarins fear that the government's secretive change to the legal status of special advisers, which came to light this week, will give spin doctors new powers over civil servants.
London won the right to stage the 2012 Olympics on the strength of the legacy that it will leave behind for deprived areas such as east London. So will transport, housing and other facilities be...
The Local Authority Business Growth Incentive scheme is a good idea on paper rewarding councils for increasing their business tax base. But they would get the benefits faster through the annual...
I think I feel a primary care shake-up coming on. The government is finally turning its attention from hospitals to family doctor services, says Noel Plumridge. Its mission? To bring back patient-...
The government's decision to cap the budgets of eight English councils has prompted warnings of service cuts and complaints about the cost of rebilling.
Public sector organisations lag far behind their private sector counterparts when it comes to accurate and timely financial reporting, auditors said this week.
Some local authorities have still not introduced any procedures to prevent money laundering, although they have been legally required to do so for more than a year. It's time they woke up to the...
The director of the Centre for Cities is using skills honed at the Treasury to focus on the economic and commercial drivers of urban development. Will Hatchett reports
The government's strategy for service provision should help drive innovation and improvement, but it also throws up challenges for public sector financial managers unused to dealing with market...
Claims by academics that the Barnett funding formula will lead to a squeeze on Scotland's budget have been rejected by a leading commentator on public finance.
Councils are unable to keep pace with the demands placed on their social care services despite their best efforts, local government leaders warned this week.
Sir Robin Wales, the mayor of Newham, the London borough where much of the 2012 Olympics will take place, pledged that it would be working 'flat out' to ensure the games are a success.
The government must legislate as soon as possible to protect the impartiality of civil servants as the pressures they endure are 'greater than ever', the first civil service commissioner has warned.
The government's push to improve neighbourhoods will not be carried out at the expense of councils, local government minister Phil Woolas claimed this week.
