The relentless push for public services improvement has provided a burgeoning market for the Improvement and Development Agency, which plans to expand to meet rising demand from local government....
It was not the news that Health Secretary Alan Milburn already facing an embarrassing backbench revolt over foundation trusts and accusations of widespread waiting list fiddling by hospitals...
Councils hoping to transfer their housing have been warned against creating a single new landlord for the entire stock.
New guidance on large-scale voluntary transfers, published this week by the...
Authorities rated 'excellent' will not have their council tax increases capped, despite rises of up to 45%, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed this week, with ministers apparently...
The next 12 months could make or break the government's public services reform agenda, the new leader of the union movement has warned.
In an interview with Public Finance , Brendan Barber, who...
Central and local government must 'give up a bit of power' to tackle social exclusion in partnership with voluntary and community bodies.
That was the message from Office of the Deputy Prime...
The government has given way to protests over the scrapping of the local authority social housing grant (LASHG) and announced an extra £110m in transitional funding to keep affordable housing...
Almost 1,000 teaching assistants made legal history this week when their union lodged the biggest equal pay claim to be made in Europe.
Unison has lodged the claim with an employment tribunal in...
The Liberal Democrats outlined their alternative 'cash-back' Budget this week, pledging free care for the elderly and the abolition of tuition and top-up fees for students, but no increases in public...
Bradford has become the first local authority to have its early loan redemption fees paid to help fund a housing transfer.
The city council's handover of almost 25,000 homes to Bradford Community...
Unison Scotland has called for the effective abolition of the Private Finance Initiative in a manifesto launched ahead of May's elections for the country's Parliament.
It said: 'The time has come...
A former local authority chief executive this week started work as the UK's newest crimebuster. Powers came into force on February 25 which allow Jane Earl to go after the assets of criminals as...
Capita, the business services group, said it expected to double its revenue from transport projects in 2003, following the apparent success of the London congestion charging scheme.
Despite a...
Councils will be able to keep millions of pounds gleaned from business rates if they generate economic growth across their communities, under plans unveiled by local government minister Nick...
The trust that built the first major Private Finance Initiative hospital lacks leadership and has failed to meet the needs of the local community, according to reports this week.
A revised GP contract will put patients at the heart of NHS primary care services by ushering in a radical reform of the way practices are funded.
The proposed contract, published late last week,...
The row over the education 'passporting' fiasco escalated this week, when the Local Government Association accused Charles Clarke of effectively ringfencing cash from council tax rises.
A letter...
Charles Clarke's determination to force two councils to 'passport' education funds is nothing short of a unilateral declaration of independence against the rest of Whitehall, the chief executive of...
Local authorities are locked in talks with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister over whether they should slash the discounts on offer to council tenants under the right to buy scheme.
Lower...
The government will propose delaying the imposition of fines on social service departments that delay discharges from hospital, following a crucial defeat in the House of Lords.
On February 17,...
Health Secretary Alan Milburn has overturned more than a decade of NHS thinking by giving small hospitals a new lease of life.
Many local cottage hospitals have closed as the health service sought...
Ofsted, the schools' inspectorate, has insisted that it will meet its March deadline to inspect and register all childminders and nurseries, despite a growing backlog of checks.
A spokeswoman told...
Councils and other public sector bodies are beefing up their risk management policies in the face of huge rises in insurance premiums.
They are also being forced to absorb larger excesses a...
Council tax increases in London and the Southeast are set to soar above 25% for the first time, fuelling allegations that the government has shifted significant resources to the Midlands and the...
Local government minister Nick Raynsford has promised to continue paying for an expansion of councils' workforce training programmes providing a £27m pathfinder scheme launched this week is a success...
