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The papers have been full of frothy stories and silly stereotypes about the civil service, says Mark Lowcock. This risks distracting us from the real – and very important – challenge of adapting to the tasks at hand

The civil service should be more confident in its ability to deal with the challenges facing it, Department for International Development permanent secretary Mark Lowcock has said in an article for CSW.

CBI director-general John Cridland writes (CSW p4, 12 April 2012) that the government has made little progress with its public service reforms over the past nine months. Those working in health and education witnessing major changes being pushed through might beg to differ, as might the civil servants trying to make sense of proposals from ministers for the ‘right to challenge’, ‘right to provide’ and now the ‘right to choose’.

Under Labour, the Cabinet Office reviewed departments’ capabilities – but these days, departments examine their own performance before producing Capability Action Plans. Ben Willis sets out their findings, warts and all

A council worker tries to stay positive despite continued uncertainty

The government’s online safety initiative, Get Safe Online, is to receive a further £400,000 of funding in a bid to improve the UK’s knowledge of cyber-security threats.

The coalition promises more public contracts for small businesses – but we’ve heard this language before, without seeing much in the way of results. Becky Slack meets the man tasked with turning rhetoric into reality

It's the UK’s only way out of the ‘energy trilemma’, says David Handley.

The chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee has been impressed by the FCO’s work, and applauds many of the coalition’s foreign policies. But he tells Joshua Chambers that the cuts risk damaging our overseas capabilities

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.”

Civil servants in the PCS Union will strike on 10 May over reforms to public sector pensions, the trade union announced last week. They will be joined by NHS workers from the Unite trade union, it said.

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.

All departments must identify five per cent of their budgets that they could cut if they require contingency funding, chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said in a speech to the Institute for Fiscal Studies this week.

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.

Departments must think of the long-term when setting out budgets as part of a Spending Review, the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) has said in a report published yesterday.

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 Treasury must take ownership of the new system of accountability that will develop as a result of public service reforms, the Public Accounts Committee has said.

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.

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.

A cross-government plan is being developed that will, for the first time, provide a strategic overview of all government communications – and enable the Cabinet Office to better coordinate Whitehall’s communications operations.

Unacceptable IT is "pervasive" across government and some people in the profession don't have the capability to bring about the changes required, the retiring head of the government's G-Cloud programme, Chris Chant, has written in a blog post on a government website.

As demand for traditional postal services declines, the Post Office is moving to occupy a new role assisting in the delivery of online public services. A week-long series of CSW seminars explored the implications for civil servants

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

The government’s suggestion last month that it could create a ‘right to choose’ between service providers – made in its Open Public Services 2012 document – may provide a valuable signal that it is committed to increasing individuals’ power to choose between providers.

Under the latest pension reform proposals, civil servants will pay more and receive less; the government says this is its final offer, but the unions have not yet agreed to accept it. Becky Slack explains what’s on offer

Last July, I helped to launch the Open Public Services white paper alongside the prime minister. The CBI welcomed the government’s pledge to open up every public service to new providers, but warned that the government would have to be bold to make its ambition a reality.

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.

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 majority of the Government Communication Network’s content is to be made available to the public.

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.

The government must provide a thorough response to last month’s final report from the Riots, Communities and Victims Panel, its chair Darra Singh has told CSW.