Local government faces an uncertain future. The Lyons' report has been largely rejected by ministers, there is the prospect of a messy reorganisation, and local partnerships are failing to get off...
Civil servants have called on the government to maintain prison-based education schemes amid fears that financial constraints and overcrowding could lead to higher re-offending rates.
The future of local government finance moved up the election agenda in Scotland this week as the Liberal Democrats announced their plans for a local income tax.
Housing associations are continuing to increase the amount of money they borrow from private lenders, according to the Housing Corporation's annual review of private finance.
A leading public finance expert has criticised the Scottish National Party's plans for a local income tax, claiming they are based on shaky financial assumptions that would create a significant...
Campaigners have reacted angrily to news that the number of children living in relative poverty has risen in spite of the government's pledge to halve the total by 2010.
Local authorities should join the Housing Corporation in persuading social landlords to reduce the number of homes they own in different parts of the country, says a Chartered Institute of Housing...
The latest strategy to get NHS waiting lists down is 24 hours a day surgery. But critics say it might endanger patient welfare, and boosting resources elsewhere would be more effective. Noel...
Benefits need to be made available for all disabled children and taken up by more families if the government is to eradicate child poverty by 2020, a leading think-tank has warned.
Families in temporary accommodation are being offered the opportunity of a permanent home after a London council announced plans to buy back 200 properties sold under the right-to-buy scheme.
Housing Corporation chief executive Jon Rouse is leaving his post this summer to lead Croydon council. His appointment as the London borough's chief executive should be confirmed next week.
Plans to build thousands of homes in Southeast England will land the government and local authorities with an extra bill running into billions of pounds, the Environment Agency warned this week.
Ministers have quickly rejected key recommendations from Sir Michael Lyons' review of local government, including a revaluation of property prices and an end to capping.
All children should be able to attend good schools, or at least have an equal opportunity of doing so. But that's not the case at present. The controversial new code of admissions aims to even the...
More than £12bn of public funds is spent every year on support for small business but to what effect? A Conservative Party task force found the programmes to be ineffective, bureaucratic and...
It no longer seems so much 'if' as 'when'. Bizarre, amazing, doomed call it what you will, but the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness look set to become first and deputy first ministers of...
Just as the Barker review points the way to more planning incentives, along comes the European Union with yet another fly in the ointment. Now even section 106 projects are threatened by procurement...
