News

DWP perm sec heaps praise on the department's operations team for finding efficiencies, while acknowledging staff can't "just pedal faster forever"

DVSA in the market for new in-house digital staff after similar move by the DVLA to bring IT back home

Ministers vow to "sort out the relationship between the Commons and the Lords" after government forced into tax credits rethink

Labour asks the NAO to look into Just Solutions International

Dods Research finds LSE best-perceived among officials, while some civil servants call for better access to academic studies

Minister for the Cabinet Office Matt Hancock says reforming public servants who are "encumbered by regulatory barriers" need to speak out

BT's Ian Dalton shares his insights on the role that SMEs can play in transforming public services

Official who raised value for money concerns over further funding for the charity to face questions from the Public Accounts Committee

Cabinet Office says amended ministerial code continues to account for international conduct – but Sir Paul Jenkins warns of "contempt for the rule of international law"

Civil service chief executive John Manzoni says move will help Whitehall become "more talented, diverse and effective"

Consultancy to advise HMRC on end of the decade-long IT deal

Foreign Affairs Committee says FCO failing to prioritise human rights as resources are squeezed

Many of the world’s most famous government officials never actually existed. As the legendary crown servant James Bond returns to our screens in Spectre, we profile some more made-up mandarins – and invite you to vote for your favourite. Illustrations by John Levers

Four ex-Government Digital Service staff join their old boss at the Co-op

Exclusive: Committee chair tells CSW inclusion of the word "instructions" gives "new potential for conflict" between Spads and permanent officials – but minister says changes will help departments become more "orderly and organised"

Institute for Government finds it is "much harder than it should be" to establish evidence base for public policymaking – and launches new tool to help officials

Public Accounts Committee chair Meg Hillier questions MoJ's "management of taxpayers’ money" – but MoJ points to savings made from the closure

Chief inspector says some apprenticeships have been "devalued" by push to make them more widely available

Tax may not be high in the YouTube search history of your average teenager, but HMRC's "Tax Facts" campaign has been described as "cheerful and creative". Maureen Pamplin​, the tax authority's head of sustainability, shares her tips on how departments can engage the public – without dumbing down

Hancock bats away Labour questions on GDS turnover – and praises services that take "less time than boiling an egg"

DCMS perm sec Sue Owen says failure to meet new diversity objectives will be made "very public"

Major projects in focus: As HMRC calls time on Aspire, the government’s largest IT contract, Matt Foster finds that the tax authority is opting for evolution over revolution – and trying to sharpen its own digital skills

Work and pensions committee report calls for simplified payment structure and better categorisation of participants

Opinion: The need to find new ways of delivering services while resources are tight is the real reason for the new localism push