News

Schools have improved in recent years, says a primary school teacher, but the renewed emphasis on testing won’t work for all pupils – and the cuts present a danger to many children’s education

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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 is a probation officer with nearly 30 years’ experience – both in the field, and as a trainer

Michael Gove’s flagship reform of the school system is well under way, but questions have been raised over the pace of change and the funding to back up long-standing policy pledges. Suzannah Brecknell reports.

As the spending review rolls on, cross-departmental working seems to be on the agenda at the Treasury. Suzannah Brecknell reports.

This week’s interviewee is a practice manager, responsible for the business and operational management of a major GP partnership

This week’s interviewee works as a learning support assistant in a large city comprehensive school

The new National Security Council will draw a range of departments into crucial decisions on security. Matt Ross reports on the coalition’s attempt to win cross-government consensus in a complex and unpredictable world.

What does the list of the 172 highest-earning public servants tell us about the upper echelons of government? Suzannah Brecknell reports.

This week’s interviewee is a GP with more than 20 years’ experience as a partner in an urban practice

No-one now doubts that Britain faces an era of public spending cuts – but we won’t be the first country to have dealt with them. Matthew O’Toole finds some encouraging examples of how other nations have coped in tough times.

April saw the launch of a scheme which will result in departments paying tariffs for all their carbon emissions. The Environment Agency’s Tony Grayling tells Ruth Keeling about a radical move to improve sustainability

If the election produces a hung Parliament, civil servants will look to Scotland, which has seen both a coalition and a minority government. Ruth Keeling gets some tips from its permanent secretary, Sir John Elvidge

Elected to the Commons in 1966 and a veteran of eight ministerial jobs, Michael Heseltine brought down one prime minister and became the deputy of the next. The businessman politician talks to Matt Ross

Matthew Rycroft, who heads up EU policy at the foreign office, hopes to move the union on from a decade of institutional wrangling to tackle strategic issues. He tells Matthew O’Toole why it’s time to focus on the big picture

The government has been moving in the right direction on welfare and benefits reform, shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May tells Matt Ross; it just hasn’t been doing so very cleverly, or very quickly