News

Kevin Hyland was appointed as the UK’s first independent anti-slavery commissioner by Home Secretary Theresa May yesterday. 

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) should “marginalise” the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) if disputes cannot “be ended by agreement”, recommends a strategy paper on employee and industrial relations leaked yesterday. 

NHS chief executive Simon Stevens has made ambitious promises to the Health Select Committee. 

Hilary Spencer became the new director of Civil Service Learning (CSL) at the end of October, taking over from Jerry Arnott, who retired from the civil service.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has appointed Professor John Loughhead as its new chief scientific adviser. Loughhead, who took his post on 22 October, was previously executive director at the UK Energy Research Centre – a publicly-funded institute – and will keep this role on a part-time basis until December.

The UK Space Agency and UK scientists are celebrating the landmark touchdown of Rosetta’s Philae lander — the first ever landing on a comet yesterday. 

Dame Fiona Caldicott has been appointed as the first national data guardian for health and social care, secretary of state for health Jeremy Hunt will announce today.

The civil service must foster “a more vibrant, competitive marketplace” of government contractors and rebuild its skills in contract management, the government’s outgoing chief operating officer Stephen Kelly has told CSW.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) have now moved their digital Vehicle Management service to private beta.

The first national UK shale college was announced by Business, Enterprise & Energy minister Matthew Hancock today. 

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is calling on businesses of all sizes and in all sectors in the UK to invest in workforce training as a key driver for economic success and improved productivity performance.

The Home Office have backed a proposal to prevent 17-year-olds being detained in police custody overnight after being charged, it was announced yesterday.

The Department of Health (DH) and Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) did not adequately prepare for the delivery of the Better Care Fund, said the National Audit Office’s (NAO) Planning for Better Care Fund report published today. 

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has announced plans to centralise TB testing on farms to ensure greater efficiency from April 2015. 

Referrals from Scottish police to crime agency have risen rapidly

The government should introduce five-year spending plans and independent assessments of its infrastructure plans, former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell told an audience at the Royal Statistical Society last month. 

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) is launching a new strategy to support and protect bees and other pollinators in the UK. 

Bronwyn Hill explains why she loves going to her rowing club every weekend – and she hasn’t picked a genteel West London group! 

The appointment of women to the boards of public bodies has reached a record high, according to the commissioner for public appointments, Sir David Normington.

The Department of Energy & Climate Change’s (DECC’s) current offshore licensing round is set to be the biggest round of licensing since 1964.

Diabetes is a deadly disease and it is spreading fast. Christel Schaldemose explains why the EU must act now.

Dr Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, offers his peers in the Science and Engineering profession a view from outside government

The Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC) is asking key figures in the oil and gas industry for their views on the sanctions regime and cost recovery mechanisms of the newly established Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), as part of a consultation on the Wood Review.