News

The UK’s former ambassador to the EU warns MPs of a “diminution of Whitehall attention” on ongoing EU policy matters as the pressures of planning for Brexit rise

International trade secretary pushes back against Lord O'Donnell and Sir Andrew Cahn's House mag and CSW comments on the work of his new ministry

First Civil Service Commissioner Ian Watmore tells CSW that departments will now be able to bring in senior staff for up to three years and on a maximum salary of £142,000 without having to go through an open recruitment process

£115,000-a-year up for grabs as department seeks permanent CDO

Praise for outgoing Rural Payments Agency chief after troubled period, as Defra announces that Paul Caldwell is stepping up to serve as interim CEO

Former Foreign Office permanent secretary attacks Theresa May's "rushed" invitation to the new US president

FDA and Prospect argue enhanced salaries but thin pension offer for staff in the new Government Commercial Organisation will deter civil service interest and fail to attract real private sector talent

Single Source Regulations Office seeks greater oversight of contracts for non-competitive military goods

Caroline Nokes says savings from estate programme will be used to fund recruitment of frontline advisers, but MPs, including Tory backbenchers, raise concerns over access for claimants

New appointments in the civil service, UK politics, and public affairs, via our colleagues on Dods People

Exclusive: Cabinet secretary says reform agenda remains "strongly supported by ministers" after several key Francis Maude-era initiatives are scrapped, but stresses focus on "embedding leadership at a departmental level"

Exclusive: Cabinet secretary tells CSW that Theresa May feels "very strongly that she and other ministers were elected on a Conservative Party manifesto that must still stand", as he stands by the decision to set up two new Brexit-focused departments

Five years into his job as the UK's top official, Sir Jeremy Heywood faces his greatest challenge yet – ensuring the civil service he leads is ready for the mammoth task of leaving the European Union. Jess Bowie and Matt Foster sit down with the cabinet secretary to talk Brexit, Theresa May, public sector pay – and the future of Whitehall's reform agenda

Mark Thurston to leave engineering consultancy giant CH2M for new £650k a-year role

Green light from the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee follows hearing in which he said the Government Statistical Service appeared to have been “downgraded” over the years

Estates strategy proposes opening five new large service centres and 50 shared-site operations

Appointments watchdog gives Air Marshal Sir Simon Bollom green light to set up consultancy and accept commissions – one of which involves MoD project

Cabinet Office document suggests a significant chunk of civil service’s targeted 30,000 apprenticeships will already be employed by government departments

Former head of delivery and innovation at the Government Digital Service to take up new role next month

The Institute for Government warns that Brexit could lead to departments slipping on transparency goals — which have already seen a steep decline since David Cameron’s 2010 open government claims

Department for Exiting the European Union "consulting very extensively" on the impact of Brexit to the science sector, says top government adviser, after MPs urge the new department to take on a full-time expert

Ministry of Defence perm sec Stephen Lovegrove offers "expertise" to DExEU as Whitehall readies for Brexit – but downplays impact of European Union departure on the MoD's own work

The map of Whitehall has changed considerably in the months since Stephen Lovegrove left the Department of Energy and Climate Change to become Ministry of Defence perm sec. He tells Colin Marrs about the Brexit help his department can offer, the MoD’s role in boosting Britain’s industry and the staffing cuts he’s tasked with making. Photos by Paul Heartfield

New report from cross-party group of MPs highlights risks to shake up of police, ambulance and fire service comms — but praises low leadership churn at the Home Office