News

Home Office chief points out that enforcement rate for confiscation orders is increasing, even as overall debt pile grows, while Derbyshire police chief Mick Creedon points the finger at legacy of “inflated” targets

The Public Accounts Committee wants the most senior civil servants to play a greater role in approving major projects, and to publish their assessments of whether policies offer value for money

Spending watchdog to take its first detailed look at the central government procurement agency

Experienced rehabilitation charities say they have been left disadvantaged by the bidding process for the Ministry of Justice's probation overhaul

Resolution Foundation report says welfare shake-up has "genuine potential" but could be less effective because of cost-cutting

Open Data Barometer finds that the UK government is still top for releasing open data – but France, Canada and Mexico are snapping at its heels

PCS study of almost 25,000 civil servants, including managers, finds widespread concern about the way performance management is working in practice

New body to be set up amid concerns over the use of big data, with Cabinet Office also drawing up new framework for government data science

Cabinet Office review prompts fresh distinctions between executive agencies (EAs), non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and non-ministerial departments (NMDs)

National Audit Office says probation services "have been sustained throughout a period of major changes" – but warns of "unsurprising frictions" between private and public sector staff

BIS perm sec seeks to justify closure of Sheffield site, and says departmental cuts will mean reducing headcount by 30%-40% "over time"

The government's vision of autonomous prisons held to account for delivering against defined outcomes is welcome – but it will require a step change in the way performance is measured

Tory MP Richard Bacon gets a cheeky question in about the internet sensation... 

Pinsent Masons lawyer and former Stonewall chair David Isaac to become chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) after promising to step back from decisions around government contracts

Cabinet Office minister says distributed ledgers could offer a "better way" of monitoring the distribution of government cash

Former chief of defence materiel, who left the civil service at the end of 2015, to carry out progress review for the MoD on equipment buying

Foreign Affairs Committee report says challenges of vote to leave would not be "insurmountable" for the Foreign Office – but makes clear the department would need a big boost in resources to cope with the fall-out

Open data organisation co-founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee says proposed model for the privately-owned Land Registry "appears very similar to historic examples of long-term outsourcing deals and risks repeating the same mistakes"

Department of Health says “military level” contingency planning in place to ensure emergency care will continue

Two new proposed tenders aim to simplify mobile working through use of the cloud

Online payments firm Stripe – which handles payments for Kickstarter – among those chosen in revamped approach to government merchant services

Andrew Johnston, who spent 30 years at the Government Actuary’s Department, reflects on the parallels between his career in Whitehall and his current role as chair of CS Healthcare in our Q&A with people who’ve crossed organisational and sectoral boundaries to join a new working world

Union's deputy general secretary says 1% average pay rise cap is "not sustainable", after government gives departments more freedom to reward "outstanding" senior officials

What values should guide officials at a time of deep scepticism with democratic institutions? David Faulkner was a civil servant at the Home Office for over 30 years before joining Oxford University's Centre for Criminology – here he shares his thoughts on how public officials can secure the confidence of the citizens they serve