It seems that time is running out for the big regeneration programmes. But, despite government rhetoric about 'mainstreaming', practitioners fear that their resources might not transfer into the...
Sure Start, tax credits, baby bonds. Gordon Brown has not been idle on the social policy front while he waits for his chance at the premiership. But what kind of legacy will the longest-serving...
Ministers are poised to devolve new welfare powers to cities aimed at combating poverty, raising employment and improving conditions for people with disabilities.
The Treasury is to launch a root-and-branch review of procurement throughout the public sector, amid ministers' mounting frustration that many organisations are still not using their buying power to...
Every household in Britain is losing around £180 per year because of fraud and error in the government's benefit and tax credits systems, figures released by Opposition MPs this week suggest.
Scotland would lose many of the benefits of economic and financial integration with the rest of the UK if the Holyrood Parliament had powers to raise and spend its own taxes, the authors of a report...
Ministers expect to save £7bn from the overhaul of welfare systems announced this week cash that they believe could be reinvested directly back into services.
The government is on a new charm offensive with the voluntary sector. But will all the reviews and initiatives allay charities' suspicions that ministers are looking for public services on the cheap...
Disagreement between local authorities over employee benefits in the Local Government Pension Scheme risks fragmenting and ultimately undermining it, unions have told Public Finance .
The government's impending Welfare Reform Bill will be scrutinised by disability rights experts to assess its impact on child poverty targets, a leading practitioner revealed this week.
There is a lull in Westminster, as if everything is waiting for the next PM. For many in the public sector, this represents a welcome rest from a breakneck whirl of reform but not for local...
The government has poured money into public sector pay, but taxpayers can't see any service improvement, the unions are far from grateful and now the chancellor is pulling the plug. It's time to...
Prime Minister Tony Blair this week initiated a crucial phase of his third-term public services reforms a wide-ranging review of private and voluntary sector capabilities across health, social care...
The promised summer report on next year's Comprehensive Spending Review has yet to materialise, making it unlikely that MPs will be able to discuss it before the recess. But that's par for the...
The public sector in Scotland is facing an increasing pension fund shortfall, which now stands at more than £53bn, a study by Audit Scotland has found.
The US comptroller general, David Walker, has praised the UK's system of permanent secretaries running Whitehall departments and wants a similar system introduced in US government departments.
A senior backbench MP has cast doubt on the private and voluntary sector's ability to deliver the improved access to mental health services demanded by leading academics this week.
Community planning partnerships in the public sector are finding it difficult to improve services because of their complex remit, Audit Scotland has found.
Town hall finance chiefs are retreating from the challenges thrown up by local government reform, according to the man reviewing the function and funding of councils.
A former permanent secretary this week called for Whitehall's performance assessments to be quickly handed over to an external regulator once the new frameworks become embedded.
The Department for Communities and Local Government is considering a fundamental overhaul of local authority pensions potentially creating a new scheme with retirement payments linked to employees...
