News

DCMS permanent secretary Sue Owen says department is "just about" at the minimum levels of staffing it needs to do its job –  but says department is in a "much, much more fortunate place" than expected before the Spending Review

CCS sets out thinking behind replacement of Payroll, Human Resources (HR) and Finance Managed Services (PHRF) framework

Shadow cabinet office minister says lack of senior Communities and Local Government officials outside the capital shows "utter contempt" for the rest of the country – but department points out that senior officials "account for less than 5% of the department’s workforce"

Department for Work and Pensions' Mayank Prakash tells Public Sector ICT Summit: “Before I can talk to a person they tell me what grade they are – and I struggle with it"

Tom Walker – who heads cross-government cities and local growth team – hails "ever closer integration" and close support of the Treasury as ministers press ahead with devolution drive

Education secretary Nicky Morgan says consultation marks “biggest step towards fairer funding in over a decade”

All Atos contracts worth more than £10m now under review after public accounts committee said the outsourcing firm had "acted solely with its own short term best interests in mind" on GP data service

Microsoft examines some of the key opportunities a CFO can gain through adopting the cloud.

Public Accounts Committee points the finger at frequent leadership changes in its report on the Home Office's long-running border data troubles

Former PAC chair Margaret Hodge questions whether ministerial accountability system is fit for purpose and warns MPs are more interested in new policies than scrutinising spending. But her warnings over civil service capability are challenged by a senior Ministry of Defence offficial

“Where we’re developing premium data, we’re trying to release some elements of open data at the same time," says OS’s public sector director John Kimmance

General secretary of the biggest civil service union says Labour leader has "fired the imagination"

This week the British Airline Pilots Association renewed warnings over the threat posed to aircraft by drones. Cranfield University expert Dr Monica Rivas Casaldo says a failure to regulate against the risks posed by unmanned aircraft shouldn’t overshadow their positive uses

Although attitudes are changing, officials with dyslexia are still underrepresented in the senior civil service. Having more visible role models will be vital in remedying this, says David Whineray of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Treasury committee chair Andrew Tryie warns of "lack of detailed explanation" of how HMRC's Making Tax Digital plans will play out

Iconic Whitehall building sold as part of MoD plans to make estate savings. Department says it will be "sympathetically restored, redeveloped and re-imagined as a high quality hotel and residential apartments"

“We're at the start of the government platform,” GDS executive director tells the Public Sector ICT Summit 

MPs urge the Government Digital Service to provide more support if it wants departments to embrace digital innovation, after report finds that focus on 'digital by default' hindered delivery of new rural payments scheme

Cabinet secretary tells the public administration and constitutional affairs select committee that "nobody's having any difficulty with my guidance on the ground", as eurosceptics hit out at curbs on civil service support for ministers in favour of Britain leaving the European Union

Burns Commission on Freedom of Information sides against charges for FOI requests, but calls for greater clarity on protecting policy-making

It now seems as though civil servants are being told to block information to ministers in favour of leaving the European Union, despite the fact that the same ministers are constitutionally accountable to parliament for the conduct of their departments. Today's hearing with the cabinet secretary must provide answers

Public pending watchdog finds delays in the justice system because of “basic avoidable mistakes” and says reform alone will not tackle all “causes of inefficiency"

Much of the debate over civil service support given to ministers in favour of Brexit is simple sound and fury. But the issue of the relationship between senior civil servants and ministers is unlikely to go away