Chief executive and permanent secretary, HM Revenue & Customs

Permanent secretaries are clear about the task ahead, says Matt Ross: supporting and empowering their staff.

An ‘allied health professional’ explains what the title means, and why giving power to the frontline brings risks as well as rewards

The civil service in Northern Ireland has done much to build stability and political alliances, working with tensions and risks far greater than those in other parts of the UK. Its head Bruce Robinson talks to Joshua Chambers.

The Intelligence and Security Committee has helped to foster the intelligence agencies' arrival on the public stage. Now, its new chairman Malcolm Rifkind tells Matt Ross, his committee should be handed control of the spotlights.

The coalition has ambitious plans for IT-based services, and wants to move from paper and counter-based services towards web-based delivery. Joshua Chambers explains how civil servants can stay ahead of the game.

Leading businessman Martin Read advised Labour on efficiency before joining the board of the Efficiency and Reform Group. He explains to Matt Ross the thinking of the ERG – and what happens next.

It’s Jonathan Slater’s job to transform the justice system. He tells Suzannah Brecknell about the unprecedented approach he’s taking to encouraging preventative interventions, payment by results and voluntary sector delivery.

A local authority employee shares his thoughts on finding savings and driving innovation

The Insolvency Service minimises the harm caused by bankruptcy and company failures. But its chief executive Stephen Speed tells Matt Ross that, thanks to the credit crunch, the service now has its own financial problems.

Adult social care faces huge problems as spiralling demand meets constrained finances. Joshua Chambers investigates possible solutions, and examines how they fit with the government’s desire for localis

Civil service budgets will be a third smaller by 2014-15. Matt Ross, Suzannah Brecknell and Joshua Chambers examine how the government hopes to ensure that the cuts produce reforms, not just retrenchment.

Ben Willis examines how the administration budget cuts build on previous efficiency drives – and names the departments forging ahead with savings.

Government property is set to be squeezed. But Joshua Chambers finds that tough times may catalyse greater sharing of property across the public sector, producing benefits for services as well as cost savings.

This week’s interviewee works for a charity providing social care for people leaving psychiatric hospitals

Six years after the relocation agenda was launched, more than 20,000 civil servants have left the Greater South-East for the North or West. Giles Barrie discovers that their colleagues are unlikely to follow them any time soon.

The voluntary and community sector lies at the centre of the coalition’s plans to promote the Big Society, but the cuts are hitting it hard. Suzannah Brecknell examines how civil servants can work better with the VCS.

Backbench MP Douglas Carswell played a key role in shaping the localist agenda. He tells Joshua Chambers why the Tory party must combat its own centralising tendencies – and why he enjoys coalition with the Lib Dems.

A teacher reflects on how turning a school into one of New Labour’s academies affects the quality of the teaching, the management – and the logos

Tax Increment Financing – like other forms of hypothecated taxation – has long horrified the Treasury. But Stuart Watson finds attitudes changing, in the Exchequer as well as at Westminster and Holyrood.

At Defra, Helen Ghosh ditched Whitehall’s traditional departmental structure in favour of a fluid, project-based system. Now, she tells Matt Ross, we’re facing an even greater revolution in relations between the centre and the front line

This week’s interviewee works for a youth charity, training and managing the volunteers who mentor and support unemployed young people

The previous government’s waste-reduction targets did not prove testing enough to stretch most departments. Joshua Chambers looks at their impact, and examines how cutting waste can also cut public expenditure.

One of David Cameron’s first acts as PM was to increase the pressure to shrink Whitehall’s carbon footprint. James Patterson says that a combination of common sense and modern technology can yield impressive results.