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Mismatch between school year used by academies and DfE's own accounting period means parliament cannot properly hold the department to account, says the NAO

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee asks whether civil service in its current form is "appropriate for the twenty-first century" – and whether Whitehall's pay policy for officials is up to scratch

Union general secretary sticks up for the Home Office second perm sec after Home Affairs Committee grilling

Cabinet Office minister Lord Bridges confirms government rethink on plans to end automatic payroll deduction of union fees from public servants

Home Office permanent secretary Mark Sedwill to face second Public Accounts Committee hearing after PAC chair Meg Hillier brands department's disagreement with the National Audit Office a "farce"

George Osborne says Brexit would cause UK to "lose tens of billions of pounds in money for our public services" – but eurosceptic MP Bernard Jenkin says chancellor “should be ashamed of himself” for ordering civil servants to draw up Treasury analysis

As the new UK Aid Strategy sets out a bigger role for the rest of Whitehall in spending development money, DfID's permanent secretary Mark Lowcock sits down with Matt Foster to discuss the challenges of working across government – and why his department won’t lose its sense of mission

MPs give qualified backing to Peter Riddell as new watchdog overseeing top public sector appointment – but say they will keep an eye on danger of "politicisation" in the wake of planned shake-up of the role

Union analysis of Cabinet Office data on more than 280,000 officials highlights "statistically significant" differences in how different groups are treated

Home Affairs Committee chair Keith Vaz repeatedly questions Robbins on Border Force funding

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Louise Haigh says ministers "like to talk the talk about diversity"

Internal Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) document shows scale of staff reductions being considered under BIS 2020 plans

MPs says there is concern over FCO's focus in spite of boost for human rights spending – but the department says human rights will "always be a central part of our diplomacy"

As the Treasury's permanent Nick Macpherson this week departs the civil service after more than a decade as the department's most senior official, here's our full conversation with his former boss as chancellor, Alistair Darling – who worked with Macpherson as the Treasury grappled with the 2007-8 global economic crisis

Consultation says moving 4,500 civil servants to the private sector will "bring new knowledge and investment" into the Land Registry – but PCS union says plans are driven by "short-term political choice, not economic necessity"

Largest civil service union to ballot members on closure of Department for Business, Innovation and Skills St Paul's Place site – as permanent secretary Martin Donnelly tells MPs the decision will "make policy work more cost-effectively"

PAC says "encouraging signs of change" on the commercial front – but urges Cabinet Office to do more to chase up departments who are failing to make progress

Government's preferred candidate to succeed Sir David Normington as Commissioner for Public Appointments says revamped process for filling top public jobs will not result in ministers "just being able to get who they want"

Committee chair Bernard Jenkin warns cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood that guidance on support for pro-Brexit ministers could leave officials exposed during legal proceedings — but Heywood says withdrawing them "would simply create uncertainty and confusion"

Outgoing director of the Institute for Government think tank due to take over from Sir David Normington at watchdog ensuring ministers fill top public jobs on merit

Central London "a very expensive place to employ people", says MoJ perm sec Richard Heaton – but he says core departmental officials unlikely to move to support devolution of justice powers to Manchester

Chancellor pays tribute to "great public servant" – but SNP MPs jeer reference to "impartiality"

CCS chief Collier says independence of exams watchdog Ofqual "one of the attractions" of taking on chief regulator role – and says procurement background no barrier to doing the job

Chancellor George Osborne picks "outstanding civil servant" for the top Treasury post

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee chair Bernard Jenkin writes to prime minister David Cameron to complain about social media conduct of adviser Daniel Korski

"We also think it unlikely that anyone earning less than £27,000 would be hit by the cap," says BIS minister, as government sees off Labour plan to tie limit to inflation and exempt the private sector

DCMS permanent secretary Sue Owen says department is "just about" at the minimum levels of staffing it needs to do its job –  but says department is in a "much, much more fortunate place" than expected before the Spending Review

General secretary of the biggest civil service union says Labour leader has "fired the imagination"

Eurosceptic employment minister Priti Patel escalates row over civil service impartiality in the run-up to the European Union referendum – but former cabinet secretary Lord O'Donnell says guidance issued by his successor Sir Jeremy Heywood last week is "pretty well right"

Lord Kerslake says it is “impossible to see why any fair person would want to remove this very basic service” - and vows to "sing the national anthem" if the government shelves plans to end automatic "check off" of fees from civil servants' pay packets

Sharing of staff and ideas between Holyrood and Westminster still hindered by "a bit of a perception" it will require upheaval for civil servants, says Scotland's top official - as she stresses "need to recognise each others’ evolving roles"

Cabinet secretary writes to perm secs to confirm that pro-Brexit ministers will not have access to civil service briefings on the referendum

Powerful Economic and Domestic Secretariat to get a new deputy director to help departments focus on longer-term trends and the impact of technology

"Single, clear" plans for the next four years of change in departments expected imminently

Prospect members at the Met Office to stage latest walk-out over pay

Treasury consultation confirms plans for wide-ranging shake-up of exit terms – with the FDA union branding the proposals an "ideological attack on public servants"