& 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
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...
Last month, the government approved nine new unitary authorities. There is one problem though its powers to do this are languishing in a Bill before Parliament, and so one council has challenged...
Should citizens have a direct say in the way councils spend their money? George Jones and John Stewart explore the pros and cons of participatory budgeting an idea whose time might have come
The scaling down of Public Service Agreements has been heralded as emblematic of a less centralist approach to performance management. But details of the new delivery agreements suggest otherwise
New Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain has thrown down the gauntlet in a green paper designed to get the long-term unemployed into jobs. But, as Mark Conrad reports, there are some tricky battles...
Housing is back at the top of the political agenda, with a green paper promising to solve the affordable housing crisis. But how is the new prime minister going to square a return to social rented...
Could the collapse of London Tube PPP consortium Metronet have been averted or is there something about this type of public-private deal that spells disaster? Christian Wolmar investigates
In the early days of New Labour, the Private Finance Initiative was seen as the only game in town for funding major public sector projects, but the Metronet crisis could mean the game is up, writes...
An intense focus on outcomes is essential if the public sector is to deliver real value, says Geoffrey Filkin. Here he argues that government can achieve better performance without committing extra...
It's time to step up the fight against global warming. Local government has been leading the way but now it must help an increasingly concerned public to do its bit. The best way is through...
A new level of ambition is needed if communities are to guarantee their viability in the low-carbon decades ahead. That's why we must find the next Chamberlains, Livingstones and Schwarzeneggers
Councils face mounting costs in meeting their 'green' obligations. There's much they can do to cut these but they still need more resources, argues Chris Wilson
Now that politicians have promoted sustainability from token policy pledge to manifesto must-have, Public Finance 's latest round table posed the question of how local authorities can save the...
New Health Secretary Alan Johnson is launching a much-needed charm offensive starting with a clinician-led NHS review. Seamus Ward assesses the chances of tackling the problems stacking up in his...
Sir Simon Milton, the new chair of the Local Government Association, believes that there are local solutions to a range of issues, from health to housing, and he is determined to fight for more...
Restrictions on local authority borrowing have been gradually eased but one dinosaur law remains, which covers council companies and similar entities. Now its turn for reform has come in a new Bill
The new prime minister's plan to give Parliament greater powers sounds good on paper. But, just like his predecessors, he has made major machinery-of-government changes without involving either House
Opponents of Britain's Private Finance Initiative ignore one rather vital fact it works. Not only does it do what it's meant to do, it does it so well that other countries are queuing up to learn...
Taking the politics out of the NHS sounds like an attractive idea. But an independent board would be bad for democracy and bad for our health, argue George Jones and John Stewart
It's been a challenging week for Team Gordon, as the new PM and his Cabinet strive to show who's in charge. Peter Riddell assesses what all the ministerial changes mean
One in ten people in Britain are shut out of the labour market for reasons that are individual, complex and highly local. The solution is not David Freud's mega-contracts, but drastic devolution of...
