**Government  ** A new project focusing on "problem families" who create trouble in the community has been launched by the government. The Home Office unveiled a network of 53 family intervention projects targeting around 1,500 families…

Government   Proposals to create an "NHS headquarters" or a separate "management executive" within the Department of Health are being developed by David Nicholson, the chief executive of the health service. The move would be the first step…

What makes governments and local councils think they know best about just about everything?  If I have a leak in the bathroom, I'll call the plumber not Councillor Jones or my local MP.  If I want finacial advice I am highly unlikely to ask…

Government   Scottish Labour has used its Holyrood election manifesto launch to put education at the heart of its plans for the next parliament. Party leader Jack McConnell told a press conference that education would have "first call" on…

Government A "lost generation" of unemployed young people is costing the economy billions of pounds a year in benefits, youth crime and educational under-achievement, a major report discloses today. The first large-scale study of its kind…

And so to the latest attack on motorists and the Government's obsession with giving more power to the least appropriate people. A Department for Transport's feasibility study into "pay as you drive" includes proposals to use debt collectors…

A report by the London School of Economics for the Prince's Trust charity, entitled The Cost of Exclusion gives us a very dim view of our future. It appears that the benefits handout culture of Great Britain is producing a population of…

**Government  ** The National Health Service's £12bn information technology programme yesterday passed one key milestone - but confirmed it had missed another. Connecting for Health is celebrating the installation of digital imaging systems…

**Government  ** Lie detectors will be used to help root out benefit cheats, Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton has said. So-called "voice-risk analysis software" will be used by council staff to help identify suspect claims. It can…

Government   Gordon Brown was last night under renewed pressure from the Conservatives after Brussels revealed that the chancellor had been forced to back down in a row over Britain's highly politically-charged EU rebate. Brussels said the…

Government   "Talking" CCTV cameras that tell off people dropping litter or committing anti-social behaviour are to be extended to 20 areas across England. They are already used in Middlesbrough where people seen misbehaving can be told to…

Government   Labour's campaign launch for May's crucial elections was in danger of being eclipsed last night by the growing controversy over Gordon Brown's pension taxation changes. The Treasury was forced into an embarrassing climbdown…