Once again there is a conflict between the government's policy intentions and the law. This time it affects one of the main planks of its local reforms: Local Area Agreements. But there is solution
He's a loyal Man U fan and an even more loyal New Labour devotee. Now the local government minister has a new enthusiasm council finances. David Harding reports
Funny, isn't it? For ages, there are no transport crises. Then they all come along at once. Christian Wolmar explains the issues that are now putting the pressure on Transport Secretary Alistair...
Hospitals, schools and councils are all facing radical reform, but the funding systems imposed to achieve this are far from joined up. Tony Travers points out the contrasting philosophies and calls...
Local authorities remain on course to meet their Gershon efficiency targets for 2005/06 with just three months of this financial year remaining, the latest analysis from the Office of the Deputy...
Government proposals to reform incapacity benefit appear to have come full circle, with senior Whitehall sources claiming that this month's welfare green paper would build on the Department for Work...
What goes around comes around. For decades, small-scale government was all the rage. Now large centralised public agencies are back in fashion. Colin Talbot and Carole Johnson investigate the merger...
The chair of the Revenue and Customs department this week revealed he has no idea how much fraud has occurred in the government's flagship tax credits system but estimates suggest that hundreds of...
Patients are 25% more likely to develop post-operative complications after being treated in one of the new privately run treatment centres than in their NHS equivalents, clinical directors claim.
The Department for Work and Pensions this week released details of the job cuts it has overseen as part of the Gershon review totals that surpass figures in the 2005 Pre-Budget Report.
Some people see regulation as more a matter of accreditation than ensuring improvement, but not the Healthcare Commission. Its system is designed to prompt changes for the better, its chair explains
Fed up with slaving away in the background on your worthy but dull project while others bask in the glory of their ground-breaking, award-winning pathfinders? Well, suffer no longer. Michael Ware has...
Well, the Licensing Act has finally come into effect, and half the nation is still waiting in fear for the other half to go on a drunken rampage. Philip Johnston considers the consequences of the law...
So the chancellor has managed just to keep within his fiscal rules. But his Pre-Budget Report lays the ground for spending cuts that will leave little funding for services other than the...
Announcing the local government finance settlement at the same time as the Pre-Budget Report might have pushed it into the news background. But the government cannot hide from the issues forever
So finally the Pensions Commission report is out. But has it found the answer to the funding crisis and, if so, will the government take its recommendations on board? Peter Robinson investigates
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has published draft regulations abolishing the so-called '85-year rule', which allowed some local government workers to retire before the age of 65.
