News

The last chair of the UK Statistics Authority was a fierce defender of the impartial and objective use of statistics. His replacement, Andrew Dilnot, tells Joshua Chambers how he intends to operate in this sensitive and important role.

DCMS permanent secretary Jonathan Stephens runs a small department with the job of helping people have fun. But Matt Ross learns that, these days, DCMS is focused on the serious business of earning money for UK plc

Ten councils have signed up to a new payment-by-results scheme that rewards councils for helping ‘troubled families’ by sharing with them the savings created as the demands on social services, criminal justice and other services decline.

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An inner-city school struggles to juggle the demands of disadvantaged pupils and national attainment targets

Public sector trading funds are to be paid to release more of their data to the public for free as part of the government’s ‘open data’ initiative, it was announced last week.

The head of Civil Service Learning (CSL), Jerry Arnott, has told CSW that he’s relying on departments’ procurement and finance professionals to ensure that all training purchases pass through CSL’s ‘Gateway’ – a key element of the reforms to civil service training set to come into force on 1 April.

The Independent Commission for Aid Impact has raised concerns about the financial management of DfID’s aid projects in Afghanistan, which are worth up to £178m in 2011-12.

The final National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – which was published yesterday – incorporates a set of major improvements on the draft version, the Communities and Local Government Committee chair Clive Betts has said.

A Public Administration Select Committee report into the role of the independent adviser on ministers’ interests has concluded that the role is not “independent in any meaningful sense”. 

Despite a change of approach in Whitehall, civil servants in Northern Ireland will continue to pursue ‘spend to save’, Dr Malcolm McKibbin, head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS), has told CSW.

Communities and Local Government Committee chair Clive Betts has known Bob Kerslake for years, and doesn’t doubt his commitment to localism – but some departments are less enthusiastic, he tells Joshua Chambers

As head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Dr Malcolm McKibbin has a very challenging job. However, as he tells Joshua Chambers, the main challenge has evolved from ending the Troubles to stimulating business growth

A care manager says cuts can drive useful change – but uncertainty prevents it

The civil service has been a front runner in treating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB & T) workers fairly. Same sex adoption and parenting leave is available, same sex partners are recognised in pensions, and there are LGB & T staff networks.

Government must remember the cost of gathering public sector data before it gives it away in its ‘open data’ initiative, Ordnance Survey (OS) chief executive Vanessa Lawrence has told CSW.

A third of civil servants who would be expected to know about the Public Services Network (PSN) have never heard of it, while a further third have heard of it but know little about it, according to CSW research conducted in conjunction with BT.

The Public Services (Social Value) Bill has been passed by Parliament. It says that civil servants commissioning services must give consideration to economic, social and environmental wellbeing.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said at Queen Mary University last week that granting the Bank of England independence in 1997 “increased the power of the Treasury, because it allowed the Treasury to say: ‘Well, I see you want to make that decision, prime minister, and I can see why you’d want to do that, but I’m not sure the independent Bank of England will wear it.”

HMRC has changed the role of its second permanent secretary in an attempt to eliminate the problems that dogged the tenure of departing incumbent Dave Hartnett.

Departments have spent billions on shared services schemes but have failed to reap the benefits, with projects often over-budget and over-customised, the National Audit Office says in a report today.

IT industry spokeswoman Sureyya Cansoy has warned that a combination of ‘agile’ project management and localism risks “fragmenting” IT projects, leading to problems with system compatibility.