News

The Met Office plans to expand and improve its open data by becoming the first trading fund to partner with the Open Data Institute (ODI) membership programme. 

UK economic growth is forecast to drop to 2.4% in 2015, down from 3.1% this year, according to EY Item Club.

New levy to cut waste

Top flight chief executives have sung the praises of both the management approach and the professionalism of permanent secretaries in a Whitehall and Industry Group (WIG) released yesterday.

European health commissioner Tonio Borg has called for policymakers and stakeholders to pursue an "integrated approach to tackling obesity" that cuts "across all EU policies".

Permanent secretaries have less than a month to deliver work to boost diversity in their departments, the government’s new diversity champion Sir Simon Fraser revealed at this year’s Civil Service Diversity & Equality Awards.

The prime minister will be able to pick permanent secretaries out of a candidate shortlist from December this year, under new rules announced today – with the first competition to be held under the new process that to replace Sir Bob Kerslake in February as permanent secretary of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The civil service has not gone far enough in appointing women to senior positions, the Treasury’s second permanent secretary Sharon White told a conference audience last month.

This year’s civil service Diversity and Equality Award winners have been named at a ceremony in Petty France today.

I rundown of a key piece of legislation; what are its aims and how will it affect you? This edition we look at the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill.

Developments in public service reform from around the world

In our monthly feature focussing on people who have crossed organisational and sectoral boundaries, Mark Gibson talks about his move from the then-Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) to the Whitehall and Industry Group

John Manzoni, the chief executive of the Major Projects Authority, has been named as the new chief executive of the civil service.

Susanne Baker, senior climate & environment policy adviser at EEF, the Manufacturer’s Organisation

Journalist and historian Peter Hennessy meets former chief of the defence staff General Sir David Richards to discuss Whitehall’s internal wars, and the need for truly strategic thinking in Whitehall

The government is considering extending the Social Value Act to include goods, works, infrastructure and public assets, under a Cabinet Office review.

By chance, two service delivery heavyweights have shared a single message. Ministers and officials alike should listen up

The Tories will continue Whitehall cuts at the same pace for at least two further years if re-elected for another term in office, chancellor George Osborne has announced today.

Victor Adebowale may be a peer of the realm, but his ideas for public service reform – built on 30 years’ experience in housing and social care – challenge established thinking. Winnie Agbonlahor meets him

HM Passport Office will be abolished and its operations absorbed by the Home Office from 1 October, it has been announced today, and the organisation’s chief executive Paul Pugh will be replaced by a newly-appointed director general.

There is “unfinished business” in civil service reform, former head of the civil service Sir Bob Kerslake said yesterday – including devolving powers away from Whitehall, and breaking down departmental structures. 

After my friend and I stumbled across Studio6 some months ago, I had been proclaiming it as one of London’s best hidden gems. Located a 30-second walk from the river Thames, amongst a nice bunch of other unique-looking restaurants, it offers a bright and inviting interior; a lovely beer garden; a good selection of wine and draft beer; and reasonable prices. After that discovery, my friend returned several times and spoke enthusiastically about the food.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has today called on the Department for Transport (DfT) to work more closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on maintaining the country’s road network.

Civil servants achieve so much for the public good, argues Dave Penman, but rarely get the praise they deserve: their leaders should sing their praises more loudly – even if it gets the critics irate