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Nearly two thirds (64 per cent) of jobseekers registered on totaljobs.com said they would prefer to work for a public sector organisation in the same role as their current or last job.

The Treasury’s Infrastructure Plan, prioritising for 40 key infrastructure projects, has been criticised by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The United States government is concerned about Ministry of Defence (MOD) plans to outsource the procurement of military equipment to the private sector.

A tenant support worker employed by a charity says benefit reforms are causing unnecessary suffering.

Information storage can be complex and costly, not to mention its environmental impact. As Whitehall organisations look for good places to squirrel away their ever-growing mounds of data, Gill Hitchcock sets out the options

Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood and head of the civil service Sir Bob Kerslake have told MPs they do not believe there is a need for a royal commission to examine the future of the civil service and its relationship with ministers and Parliament.

“Only one or two companies” owned by the government will never be privatised, Mark Russell, the new head of the Shareholder Executive, told the Financial Times on Monday. The government owns stakes in 21 businesses, including trading funds such as Ordnance Survey and the Land Registry.

The Postcode Address File – a database containing details of over 28m UK addresses – is to be sold off along with the Royal Mail in the coalition’s privatisation plans, prompting criticism from the government-backed Open Data Institute (ODI).

Ed Lester, former head of the Student Loans Company (SLC), has been appointed chief executive of the Land Registry. He replaces Malcolm Dawson, who joined the Land Registry in 2008 and became chief exec in 2011 on a fixed-term contract.

A Sociology teacher tells Sophie Barnes the education department’s reforms risk pitting school leaders against teachers – and leaving some pupils with nowhere to go.

The Cybermen may have nearly defeated Dr Who, but today’s good guys face an even more formidable foe in the shape of cyber criminals. Tim Gibson reports on a round table held to identify the civil service’s sonic screwdrivers.

The long-awaited Capabilities Plan has now emerged, outlining how civil service skills and abilities are to be strengthened. Now the work begins: Colin Marrs explains how officials will be required to put flesh on its bones.

Under the coalition’s open data agenda, the trading funds are being encouraged to release more information without charge. But if they give away their biggest asset for free, how can they earn a living? Winnie Agbonlahor reports.

Former home and foreign secretary Jack Straw has called for secretaries of state to have the right to choose from a shortlist of approved candidates during the process of appointing permanent secretaries and agency chief executives. The appeal echoes arguments made by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude last year, though Maude subsequently stopped pushing for reform after the Civil Service Commission expressed its opposition.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) is to be axed and its functions divided into two separate Home Office units, home secretary Theresa May announced yesterday in Parliament

A geography teacher warns Marcus Liddell that Ofsted and the education department are pointing in different directions.

Hilary Reynolds will step down as programme director for Universal Credit, after it emerged that new UC chief executive David Pitchford will take on her duties. She will move to another role in the department.

Decision-making in government has suffered since the loss of its chief social scientist in 2010, according to outgoing chief scientific adviser Sir John Beddington, who this week called for the post to be restored.

Four areas piloting ‘Whole Place’ community budgets will produce estimated public spending savings of over £200 million a year between them over the next five years.

The National Security Council has improved Whitehall’s planning and coordination. But it’s been busiest where the bullets have been flying, and there are doubts over its scrutiny of less obvious dangers. Stuart Watson reports.

To deliver public services through third parties, civil servants need to acquire better commercial skills. Mark Smulian attended a Civil Service World round table discussing how, and where, they should be developed

Efforts to share traditional back office services have been underway for years – but now Whitehall’s specialist units are beginning to sell services such as legal and payment work to their colleagues. Mark Rowe reports.

CSW recently brought a group of civil servants together to discuss the use of citizen data in reducing Fraud, Error and Debt (FED). Tim Gibson reports on the debate.

A university official charged with recruiting students tells Will Hazell of his fears that higher fees are cutting student numbers and reducing efficiency.

The government is committed to reforming programme and project management in the civil service. Tim Gibson reports on a Civil Service World round table that discussed how to ensure that its reform plans meet with success.

Along with overall morale, perceptions of the quality of civil service leadership and management are slowly creeping up, according to the departmental findings of the latest Civil Service People Survey – though there are marked differences between departments in how staff rate their managers.

The head of military equipment at the Ministry of Defence this week defended delays to major projects which were criticised in a report last month by the National Audit Office.

Jon Thompson

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence

Jonathan Stephens

Permanent Secretary, Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Professor Nigel Shadbolt

UK Open Data Adviser; Chairman and Co-Founder of the Open Data Institute

Richard Heaton

Permanent Secretary and First Parliamentary Counsel, Cabinet Office

Chris Wormald

Permanent Secretary, Department for Education

Bronwyn Hill

Permanent Secretary, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Una O'Brien

Permanent Secretary, Department of Health