Revenue & Customs seems unable to cope with £5.8bn of overpayments made under its tax credits system, according to the Commons Public Accounts Committee.
The new chief executive of London Councils will be watching out not only for his members but for the capital's less affluent citizens, too, he tells Vivienne Russell
Despite reports to the contrary, ministers are supportive of many of the recommendations made by Sir Michael Lyons. In fact, his major report will be informing public policy for many years to come
A council tenancy used to mean a home for life. But all that's set to change, as the government takes steps to break the link between social housing and welfare dependency.
Housing minister Yvette Cooper has dismissed peers' criticism of her incoming Home Improvement Packs as representing vested interests and failing to understand the environmental benefits of property...
Treasury ministers will consider reviewing the Financial Services Authority's consumer protection obligations after controversially excluding these from an independent study of the regulator's role.
Members of the incoming personal accounts savings scheme should be able to tell fund managers how their shareholder voting rights must be exercised, consultants have said.
Opposition to Prime Minister Tony Blair's welfare reforms intensified this week when civil servants joined political opponents including Chancellor Gordon Brown in condemning key proposals.
The Department of Health's controversial National Programme for IT risks setting back the NHS's information system for years and has no back-up plan if it fails, the Commons Public Accounts Committee...
The controversial NHS consultants' contract introduced in 2003 was a something-for-nothing deal that increased average salaries by more than £23,000 but led to doctors doing less work, the National...
Campaigners have attacked the introduction of an Australian-style immigration system, which they say ignores the plight of many highly skilled migrants who are already resident in the UK.
A government commission examining the barriers to becoming a councillor will consider salary hikes and accreditation for future town hall leaders, its chair has revealed.
CIPFA will be hosting an event at its Mansell Street offices on 3 November to mark 40 years since the publication of the Layfield report into local government finance, including contributions from...
The break-up of the Home Office is being driven by counter-terrorist imperatives and political manoeuvring. It should make us nervous, argues Philip Johnston
Whitehall's largest trade union this week intensified its battle against the government's civil service reform agenda by asking hundreds of local councillors for their views on the controversial...
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...
One of Gordon Brown's first moves as chancellor was to outsource responsibility for interest rates to the Monetary Policy Committee. So should he go further and create an independent body to oversee...
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...
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.
The social services inspectorate has listed 21 systematic failures to protect the most vulnerable children and warned that these might 'get lost' as responsibility for inspection is passed to Ofsted.
Politicians suffer from myopia and tunnel vision they look only to the short term and take a blinkered view of the issue in hand. This is a sentiment with which many people would agree.
The chancellor has paved the way for the majority of Private Finance Initiative schemes to be brought on to the public sector balance sheet a move that could jeopardise his sustainable investment...
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.
