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As the Parliament’s halfway point looms, Tim Fish and Ben Willis examine the Cabinet Office’s progress against the tasks it was set in May 2010 as part of the Coalition’s Programme for Government.

As dangers facing the UK develop, so must the means of preventing attack. Joshua Chambers looks at the threats to UK cyber security, and the methods being used to defend Britain’s public and private sectors.

The marathon effort to put on the greatest show in the world almost hit the skids when security firm G4S failed to deliver on its promises. Joshua Chambers explores the lessons for contract management and major projects

A plea for sensible policy-making – and more cash

When Wikileaks founder Julian Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy on 19 June, he created a dispute over when a diplomatic mission enjoys ‘inviolability’. The subject of an extradition request from Sweden for questioning on allegations of rape and sexual molestation, he’d exhausted legal remedies against his extradition when he entered the embassy, apparently with its prior agreement. So what does international law say?

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The new secretary of state for international development, Justine Greening, has launched a “line by line” review of all UK aid spending.

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From October a new cyber research institute hosted by University College London will begin a 3.5-year programme to investigate ways to improve cyber security.

Brian Moore left his job as director general of the UK Border Force yesterday, having announced his departure at a Home Affairs Committee hearing in the morning. He has been succeeded on an interim basis by Tony Smith, a senior director at the UK Border Agency (UKBA) who was responsible for the delivery of its Olympic programme.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has accused the government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF) of failing to deliver on job creation, allocating money too slowly through restrictive channels despite the need to act quickly to support the creation of private sector jobs.

Central government has shown the smallest increase in self-reported data breaches compared to other parts of the public and private sector, according to figures obtained from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) by data security firm Imation Corp.

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is unlikely to meet its main performance and savings targets, says the National Audit Office (NAO).

The four members of the Public Data Group (PDG) are working together to develop new commercial, revenue-generating data services, Land Registry chief executive Malcolm Dawson has told CSW. The move will help Land Registry to generate an income from some of its data, funding the publication of other datasets without charge.

Sir Alan Massey, chief executive of the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA), told the Scottish Affairs Committee yesterday that his reform programme won’t start to make savings until its fourth year.

The think tank contracted by the Cabinet Office to provide external policy advice on the future of civil service accountability has published research setting out its conclusions on the topic, CSW can reveal.

The decision by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to dismantle its Nimrod MRA4 maritime surveillance aircraft has created a gap in an essential defence capability, a report published today by the House of Commons Defence Select Committee has warned.

A paediatric epilepsy nurse reveals her worries about job cuts and the power of managers over clinicians.

Eleven NHS foundation trusts are in financial difficulty, and a further 13 are at risk of getting into difficulty, David Bennett, the chief executive of the NHS regulator Monitor, told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday.

Cuts to civilian staff at the MoD are falling more heavily on the senior ranks, making the department less top-heavy. Tim Fish reports on the progress of its downsizing efforts compared to those of other departments

Much of the reporting of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) report on the honours system emphasised our apparent criticism that civil servants get too many honours. But as Dame Mary Marsh, the chair of the State Honours Committee, pointed out when I bumped into her on the day of the report’s launch, honours used to be for rewarding public servants; now they should reward public service. That’s an important distinction.

Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration. This is the key to ensuring that government and industry deliver megaprojects as planned.

The Government Property Unit needs “greater clout” across Whitehall so that it can achieve bigger savings from the sale of government real estate, the Public Accounts Committee said last week.