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The government last week published advice given by HM Treasury permanent secretary Sir Nicholas Macpherson, cautioning the chancellor against a currency union with an independent Scotland.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has continued to improve staff engagement this year, while the Department for Education (DfE) has presided over the largest yearly fall, the 2013 Civil Service People Survey results show. The results mean that the DWP’s engagement score has now overtaken the DfE’s, at 54 compared to 51.

The majority of civil servants – 61% – have not seen faster progress on reforms to create a modern workplace since this agenda was highlighted as a priority by the cabinet secretary last July, according to a survey carried out by CSW.

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The new Competition & Markets Authority will referee our markets, boosting competition to support both economic growth and government outsourcing projects. Chief executive Alex Chisholm talks to Suzannah Brecknell

The Government Digital Service (GDS) plans to replace CloudStore – the electronic marketplace which allows government and wider public sector organisations to buy cloud-based services – with a new portal that has greater capacity and new features.

The Public Accounts Committee chair sits right at the heart of Westminster, with the power to examine public spending across government. But as Margaret Hodge tells Matt Ross, she’s always felt like an outsider

Universal Credit has been stymied by confused accountability and a “very, very poor set of decisions,” Public Accounts Committee chair Margaret Hodge has told CSW.

Reaching 60 is undoubtedly a milestone occasion befitting of celebration. And though it wasn’t my milestone, I was more than happy to take the opportunity to check out La Trompette – a Michelin-starred restaurant in Chiswick. Having never sampled Michelin-starred offerings before, I was intrigued to see if it would live up to the hype.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has blocked the publication of the project assessment review report into the HS2 rail line.

Oliver Robbins, formerly the deputy national security adviser, has been appointed ‘director general for civil service’ in the Cabinet Office.

The Cabinet Office has appointed a former oil executive to take charge of the Major Projects Authority, it announced this week.

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has launched a consultation on the open source document formats which his department is proposing should be used across government.

Social investment charity Nesta has been named as the government’s chosen partner in the first mutual joint venture spun off from a Whitehall policy unit.

A lack of resources is making it more difficult for the Charity Commission to do its job, the organisation’s chief executive has said.

Educationalists are being artificially divided into two opposing camps, damaging continuity in education, the former Department for Education permanent secretary Sir David Bell has told CSW.

We need to rethink education – and the DfE’s response to constructive critics, says David Bell

Justice secretary Chris Grayling’s ambitious probation outsourcing is being pushed through at breakneck pace. But many criminal justice professionals remain unconvinced that the changes have been properly tested and planned

The prime minister should be able to pick permanent secretaries from a list of good candidates, argues Guy Lodge of the IPPR

Even small constitutional changes can have big implications

Jil Matheson, the national statistician, head of the Government Statistical Service chief executive of the UK Statistics Authority, is to retire this summer, it has recently been announced.

The next wave of government services to go online will include payments to farmers, vehicle licensing services and PAYE tax assessments, the Cabinet Office has announced. By 2015, 26 services are to be relaunched in a digital form by the seven departments that handle the majority of central government transactions, plus the Cabinet Office.

The Public Administration Select Committee wants the creation of an independent commission into the civil service. The PM has so far given a firm ‘no’ – but its chair, Bernard Jenkin, won’t let up. Joshua Chambers meets him