News

Former attorney general – and recent critic of government's human rights plans – elected to lead the Intelligence and Security Committee

When members of the public want to complain about government bodies, it falls to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to investigate. Sarah Aston speaks to the watchdog's newly-appointed non-executive directors Julia Tabreham and Ruth Sawtell about efforts to simplify the system, and change the perception that complaining doesn't make a difference

Lord Macdonald tells File on 4 that policy and legal advice functions will “suffer” amid squeeze on resources – but current director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders praises "dedicated" staff

Labour's new leader promotes Lucy Powell to shadow education

The latest Open Budget Survey confirms Britain’s commitment to fiscal transparency, writes the LSE’s Dr Joachim Wehner. But the Treasury must go further to enable detailed public scrutiny of departmental spending

Select committee to question OBR's Robert Chote after e-mails show Treasury seeks changes to wording of draft forecast

The official view: Clare Short spent six years as Tony Blair's international development secretary. Here she tells us about motivating officials, how her private secretary snuck her into a global trade conference, and why the civil service must pay "fair wages" to its staff

PM highlights achievements of Whitehall's digital team as he argues government has "moral imperative" to "streamline" public services

Royal United Services Institute says protection of Ministry of Defence budget alone may not be enough to safeguard against wider threats

Culture secretary tells MPs budget cuts will lead to “difficult decisions” for DCMS but department not in “any danger” of disappearing 

Crown Commercial Service promises to boost role of smaller firms as provision of travel and conference booking for officials is split into four contracts

With the new cross-government learning contract currently out to tender, Civil Service Learning director Hilary Spencer explains how the system will work in future – and why it will pave the way for better public services 

Current deputy director for innovation at the Intellectual Property Office, Ceri Witchard, to oversee community interest companies

Former head of the civil service tells chancellor at Lords committee hearing that he believes argument for running a surplus is a "smokescreen" for a smaller state

 Sinead MacManus​, chief executive of SME and BT Infinity Labs runner-up Fluency, on training and the skills gap in the public sector

Opinion: The Spending Review calls for yet more cuts to departmental spending. But at what price?

More than 30 Tories side against government to defeat change to rules on use of official resources in run-up to the European Union vote

DfE perm sec tells MPs on the Public Accounts committee that Care Leavers Strategy – sharply criticised by the spending watchdog – marks "very important step" in improving support for young people leaving care system

New watchdog the Single Source Regulations Office seeks to overhaul MoD deals with single-source contractors

Care Quality Commission chief David Behan tells NHS Innovation Expo that public reassurance vital after data on patients attending sexual health treatment centre accidentally shared

The forthcoming Spending Review must focus on outcomes and delivery, and also be the springboard for an honest debate about the very nature of our public sector, argues CIPFA's Rob Whiteman

After over a decade in Whitehall – and 12 different roles – Antony Cousins switched officialdom for the fast-paced world of tech start-ups. Here he explains what he has learnt, and why it might be useful for civil servants

James Sutherland, one of the three co-founders and directors of start-up The Publishing Foundry, shares his perspectives on the BT Infinity Labs competition, improving processes in education and the future of innovation in the public sector

BT explore the the way in which customers want to engage is changing, and how the public sector can keep up