News

Treasury trails Hammond's first Budget, as OECD upgrades UK growth forecast

RSA says power in the UK remains "too centralised" – and urges central government to give more freedom to local authorities to tackle regional imbalances

Union calls for independent review of pay as it warns that maintaining a 1% cap on pay rises is “unsustainable”

Continuing pay cap would mean up to 20% drop in average civil service earnings by 2020, union analysis reveals

After decades of reviews aimed at driving down the civil service's running costs, Sir Michael Barber, former chief of Blair's delivery unit, is hailed by one Whitehall-watcher as "much less celebrity and much more focused on getting the job done"

Chancellor will not use improved growth forecasts to borrow more money, it is reported

New appointments in the civil service, UK politics, and public affairs, via our colleagues at Dods People

Internal appointments come ahead of expansion of the public spending watchdog’s remit

Public Accounts Committee says accountability system for major electrification programme was too complex, and casts doubt on cost estimates even after £1.2bn increase

With the appointment of Mark Sedwill, Britain is now on its fourth national security adviser since 2010. Dr Joe Devanny asks whether such churn at the top really makes for effective government

Microsoft Surface has helped Cheshire Police reduce paperwork and free up time

New Institute for Government report highlights key frictions between political leaders and Whitehall, including poor drafting and a lack of understanding of parliament

Foreign Affairs Committee says UK should stick to its guns on Russia sanctions – but warns that decline in expertise at the FCO "must be reversed"

FDA general secretary Dave Penman takes the former Cabinet Office minister to task after he said civil servants in line departments rely too heavily on jargon and management skills to get by

Three former heads of the civil service – Lords Kerslake, O'Donnell and Turnbull – among those calling for assurances that EU citizens can remain in Britain after Brexit

Wide-ranging plan includes announcement of new "Digital Government Partnership" to encourage innovation in Whitehall – as Labour's Louise Haigh blasts "recycled announcements and meagre commitments"

Public Chairs Forum, Association of Chief Executives and the Institute for Government will track progress on the Cabinet Office's bid to improve relationships between departments and ALBs

Civil service's head of executive recruitment tells CSW that new online recruitment tool – Applied – will focus on increasing diversity and speeding up the sifting process

IfG and CIPFA data reveals growing pressure on key public services, as the Treasury asks departments to crack on with pre-announced £3.5bn in efficiency savings by 2019/20

Liam Fox's staff start work in offices formerly occupied by DECC – and 007

Home Office perm sec on the move, with DfT chief Philip Rutnam taking the reins at Marsham Street

After the merger of DECC and BIS, the new Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's permanent secretary Alex Chisholm tells CSW that his department's low ranking for "organisational objectives and purpose" will be addressed in the next Civil Service People Survey

New appointments in the civil service, UK politics, and public affairs, via our colleagues at Dods People

Lesley Ann Nash, the Cabinet Office's director for public bodies reform, explains how the government's new code is aiming to shift relationships between departments and arm’s-length bodies away from compliance and control towards a proportionate, risk-based partnership model