Financial control of a flagship health service partnership in Bedfordshire was so poor that the scheme had effectively collapsed within months, a District Audit report has found.
The Comprehensive Performance Assessment seems to have annihilated its unloved predecessor, despite the Audit Commission's protestations to the contrary. But all is far from rosy in the embryonic new...
Home Secretary David Blunkett has laid out his vision of a Britain free from racial prejudice and described the country as an open nation 'enriched by immigration'.
A private contractor that led calls for a new public service ethos in the provision of local services has given a cool reception to MPs' proposals to protect staff terms and conditions.
Directly elected mayors edged closer to the political dustbin this week after a government U-turn gave councils traditionally opposed to the policy the final decision on holding mayoral...
People with disabilities are being seriously let down by a government failure to provide promised funds for equipment, and some services remain in 'a parlous state', the Audit Commission has warned.
Labour's flagship housing policy of providing affordable properties for public sector workers is backfiring at a time when the shortfall has reached 'crisis point', MPs were told this week.
'We're doing our bit, the Audit Commission is doing its bit, now you do your bit,' is the message that will be sent to ministers from the Local Government Association conference next week.
Stock transfers could become more expensive if large urban authorities are encouraged to switch their housing to a series of registered social landlords.
International Development Secretary Clare Short threw out a challenge to accountancy bodies when she told the CIPFA annual conference that 'the future of international development is in the hands of...
The increasing influence of special advisers in government departments need not threaten the traditional role of civil servants, according to the permanent secretary at the Office of the Deputy Prime...
Moves to resolve the two-tier workforce in local government could now face a logjam after Unison members demanded a reopening of negotiations with the government this week.
There may have been relief when the draft Local Government Bill published with requisite fanfare by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott last week finally emerged.
Labour has retained control of the Association of London Government, following a decision to divide representation of the capital's hung councils evenly between the three major parties.
Walsall Borough Council is almost certain to be the second authority to suffer direct takeover by the government after an Audit Commission report this week castigated its continuing financial...
An influential Labour backbencher this week claimed that the government is unlikely to grant substantial autonomy to local authorities, despite acknowledging that it must help councils improve...
The government is 'not hostile' to the idea of a local income tax and will shortly set up a high-level working group to examine the balance of local authority funding, the Treasury's chief economic...
