UK Central Government

Links to UK central government web sites.

Audit Commission

Responsible for auditing local government and health bodies and provides detailed studies on performance and management.

Public Services Programme, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

The Public Services Programme is a research programme funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for five years from November 2004. The Programme's research will examine long-standing problems of public service provision, focusing on inter-linked themes including targets, incentives and innovation. It will concentrate on studies that demonstrate the counterintuitive properties of complex systems, the unintended effects of policy designs, and the relationship between beliefs and perceptions about common measures or practices.

UK Online

Information On-line covering central goverenment and civil service.

Department of Health

Responsible for health policy and the NHS.

Department for Work and Pensions

Responsible for benefits and pensions.

HM Treasury

Responsible for economic policy, the budget, public spending and increasingly for detailed public service delivery targets. This site has good information on levels of public spending now and in the past, macro-economic policy and Public Service Agreement Targets.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Responsible for local and regional government, fire and emergency planning and land use and spatial planning.

Department for Culture, the Media and Sport

Responsible for Culture, the media and sport.

Department for International Development

Responsible for overseas aid and development policy.

Department for Transport

Responsible for transport policy.

Department for Children, Schools and Families

Responsible for schools, further and higher education. Website has detailed education attainment statistics.

Ministry of Justice

Responsible for the courts, prisons, probation, criminal law and sentencing.

Home Office

Responsible for protecting the public from terrorism, crime and anti-social behaviour.

National Audit Office (NAO)

Audits the accounts of all central government departments and agencies, as well as a wide range of other public bodies, and reports to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

Office of Government Commerce

Responsible for improving value for money by driving up standards and capability in procurement, from commodities buying to the delivery of major capital projects.

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Working to eliminate discrimination, reduce inequality, protect human rights and to build good relations - gender, racial equality, disability, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief, as well as human rights.

Sustainable Development Commission

The Government's independent watchdog on sustainable development through advocacy, advice and appraisal, to help put sustainable development at the heart of Government policy.