News

Civil service organisations must be agile to succeed – but they’re bound in chains of hierarchy and deference, argues Robin Ryde

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate saw its people survey score for management visibility rise by 12 points in a year. Its programme strategy manager David Lewsey explains how he did it

Sailing into uncharted waters, the civil service has no rules on how to help the coalition parties prepare for an election.

The government’s chief operating officer Stephen Kelly has today announced he will leave the civil service in November to become the chief executive of business software firm Sage Group.

When university fees tripled in the coalition’s early days, there were dire warnings of the effect on social mobility and student numbers. But as Suzannah Brecknell reports, the real dangers lay elsewhere.

After several bruising years, civil servants need the support and funds to achieve ministers’ goals – or the recovery could prompt an exodus 

John Hirst, chief executive of the Met Office, is leaving the civil service in September after seven years in the role.

CSW reviews Colesseo

Too many organisational cultures push clever people into doing daft things. The solutions start at the top.

Jaime Perez-Renovales, subsecretary to the Presidency, Spanish Government, tells Civil Service World about the strengths and weaknesses of his home civil service

As the search begins for a new head of the civil service, read the last interview by incumbent Sir Bob Kerslake – interviewed with the new titular head of the civil service Sir Jeremy Heywood. Words by Matt Ross; picture by Mark Weeks

The Cabinet Office has made clear that its new chief executive will require substantial experience as a top business person, ruling out the vast majority of serving civil servants.

Passport workers are on a 24-hour strike today over a pay dispute and staff shortages, with the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) claiming these workers earn as much as £3,000 less than other Home Office staff doing similar roles.

Sir David Nicholson was appointed chief executive of the NHS in 2006. He retained his position after the coalition came to power and pursued a set of reforms so big, he said, that you could probably see them from space.

The £15.8bn Crossrail programme was commended for demonstrating good programme management by a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report, published yesterday.

Sir Philip Dilley has been confirmed as the new chairman of the Environment Agency, and will take up the post on 8 September 2014.

Like Robert the Bruce’s persistent spider, the people trying to reform the way the Ministry of Defence buys and manages equipment keep returning to the fray. Colin Marrs reports

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) “should urgently invest in its operational, technical and commercial skills,” a report by the National Audit Office has found.

Manchester City Council has signed off an extra £1.2m of spending on the costs of moving its data centre to a new location – adding an extra third to the original budget.

The Home Office has managed to absorb the former UK Border Agency back into the Department without a significant fall in performance, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report published today.

In the first of a series of articles examining digital services, Tim Gibson explains online voter registration – a new IT system lying at the very heart of our democracy.

The Cabinet Office amended and then broke its own rules for awarding grants, a National Audit Office (NAO) published today explains.

John Pullinger has this month started his new job as the UK’s new national statistician. He tells Winnie Agbonlahor about his priorities in the role.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA), which was this year abolished by home secretary Theresa May, was “never going to work”, its former chief Rob Whiteman told the Public Administration Select Committee on 17 June.