News

The MoD reforms make sense; the carrier cuts do not

The legal clock is ticking for the government, as ministers must decide next week whether to release the NHS transition risk register or appeal again against the Information Tribunal’s decision that it should be published.

The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) is in competition with ministers’ special advisers, friends, think tanks and other groups, NICS permanent secretary Malcolm McKibbin has said, and must demonstrate to politicians that its advice is the highest quality if ministers “are to properly value our information and our service.”

The Cabinet Office has scaled back plans for a ‘Giving Summit’ due to fears that the event will be hijacked by debate over the income tax relief cap.

The Department for International Development (DfID) has the greatest capability to meet its delivery challenges while the Department of Health (DH) is least well-equipped to do so, the latest round of capability reviews suggest.

The FCO’s target to double trade with developing countries, including Turkey and Brazil, looks as though it has been worked out on the “back of a fag packet,” Richard Ottaway, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, has told CSW.

There must be more clarity on the appointment process for the next governor of the Bank of England,  Andrew Tyrie, chair of the Commons Treasury Committee, has told the chancellor. In his open letter, he also calls for his committee to have a veto.

The government must measure and monitor the costs and benefits of increased transparency and open access to public data, the National Audit Office said in a report published last week.

Former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell has defended the civil service following attacks from backbench MPs – including Tory MP Douglas Carswell and minister Greg Barker – and newspapers.

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is to redraft its social media guidelines, following an informal consultation event.

A new report raises concerns over the Treasury’s handling of the financial crisis, and sets out ways in which it should be equipping itself to face the eurozone crisis. Colin Marrs explains and tests its key recommendations.

The Ministry of Defence’s land and property management arm, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), is working on a plan to radically shrink its estate through land sales, its chief executive Andrew Manley has said in an interview with CSW. Manley is also close to tendering for a commercial partner for DIO, in a move that will bring in estates development and sales skills to help the ministry get the best possible price for its asse

Civil servants working with the Public Services Network (PSN) risk finding that they don’t hold data in the right format or location to share it via the network even once the right infrastructure is in pace, the Cabinet Office’s senior policy adviser on PSN has said.

The aircraft carrier replacement programme has been dogged by indecision, delays and rising costs – and now a U-turn looms. Becky Slack examines one of Britain’s biggest and most dysfunctional public procurements.

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Funding has been cut for efforts to broaden student intakes. What now?

The release of official statistics to ministers, special advisers and civil servants before their official publication is largely unnecessary and causes the public to mistrust the figures, Andrew Dilnot, the new head of the UK Statistics Authority, has told Civil Service World.

The Home Office must ensure that the UK Border Agency (UKBA) ditches its “bunker mentality” and starts to provide consistently accurate statistics to Parliament, the Commons Home Affairs Committee said in a report yesterday.

A star ratings system is to be added to the CloudStore that will enable those using its products and services to review their experiences for the benefit of others.

Computer hackers have threatened to repeatedly attack government websites, following cyber-attacks that caused the Home Office website to crash last weekend.

The Treasury needs to improve its contingency planning, broaden the capability of its staff, and encourage officials to challenge policy orthodoxies if it is to better handle future financial crises, a report has stated.

The Canal & River Trust, the new name for British Waterways, has received charitable status from the Charity Commission.

Sir Bob Kerslake, the head of the civil service, has established a blog and an account on the social networking site Twitter, so that he can better engage with civil servants across the UK and the globe.