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MPs quiz three departmental chiefs on the role of special advisers – and the impact of briefings against civil servants

Department for Work and Pensions' top official tells MPs that his department "can't sit on an estate that's too big and not do something about it"

First Civil Service Commissioner Ian Watmore tells CSW that departments will now be able to bring in senior staff for up to three years and on a maximum salary of £142,000 without having to go through an open recruitment process

Prime minister side-steps question about recent Institute for Government report under questioning from the Liaison committee

This year's People Survey provides a snapshot of morale at Whitehall's newest organisations: the Department for Exiting the European Union, the Department for International Trade, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Matt Foster crunches the numbers

FDA general secretary Dave Penman tells members he is "proud of what we have been able to achieve through tough negotiations" on shake-up of the civil service redundancy package

Amid debate over the future of the revolving door watchdog Acoba, Cabinet Office's Chris Skidmore warns against undermining "modern, dynamic" moves between public and private sector

Reduction in civil service headcount has created a more middle-aged organisation that is less well equipped for future challenges, says the National Audit Office

Full details on the new leadership team at the DIT – as former UK Trade and Investments chief exec Andrew Cahn tells CSW that setting up a new department could have a "really serious frictional cost"

New report from the Independent Commission for Aid Impact says DfID staff working in fragile and conflict-afflicted states are sometimes confused about how to manage risk

 Former head of the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, which reports to MI5, is drafted in to replace Home Office void left by departure of Olly Robbins

Former Department for Work and Pensions permanent secretary Sir Leigh Lewis calls for rethink of the "crazy" civil service grading structure

Foreign secretary tells MPs that government wanted to avoid making "an unwarranted intervention in the course of the campaign" over Britain's place in the European Union

Competition and Markets Authority says privatised Land Registry could “degrade the terms of access to its monopoly data in order to weaken competition to its own commercial products”

Ahead of the State Opening of Parliament, think tank says slim Commons majority and tough Spending Review settlements mean government would be wise to focus on key priorities 

Government Digital Service chief Stephen Foreshew-Cain tells CSW that officials with digital, data and technology skills could sit outside of the civil service grading system in a bid to attract and retain staff

Donnelly says department is spending £168,000 a year on putting Sheffield and London staff up in hotels – but local MP Paul Blomfield says the BIS perm sec's latest answers give only a "half truth"

Public Accounts Committee warns departments still "do not know their future resource needs and will have to resort more often to using consultants and temporary staff"

Current head of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat Jonathan Slater heading to the DfE when Chris Wormald moves to Health

Theresa May writes to the Home Affairs Committee chair over Border Force budget, after MPs order second permanent secretary Olly Robbins to face a second evidence session

New digital hire will head up plan to help departments share common digital platforms and oversee budget "in excess" of £15m a year

International Development permanent secretary Mark Lowcock tells CSW that asking other departments to take on aid commitments won't undermine DfID's mission — and says some of his staff have been poached for their expertise

Department for International Development permanent secretary tells CSW about efforts to provide a "rigorous analytical framework" for measuring international civil service performance

Director general Mary Calam to leave civil service after more than two decades, with Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism's Paul Lincoln taking on the job

Chairman of the cross-party Liaison Committee writes to David Cameron to say he believes referendum rules for civil servants take too much power from pro-Brexit ministers

Latest batch of MoD land disposals will "make the defence estate more efficient and better suited to the needs of our armed forces", says minister Mark Lancaster

International Development Committee gives broad backing to UK's new aid strategy – but warns DfID not to lose sight of poverty focus as other departments take on responsibility for spending development assistance funds

Budget document emphasises plan to "move civil servants out of expensive Whitehall accommodation", with Ministry of Justice looking to set up "centres of expertise outside the capital"

 "Departmental efficiency review" will "help deliver a further £3.5 billion of savings from public spending" in 2019-20, says George Osborne

"The obvious efficiency savings have come through in the early period," says former head of the civil service – as chancellor prepares to outline £4bn of further spending cuts

Outgoing Commissioner for Public Appointments Sir David Normington says impact of planned shake-up of the watchdog outlined by Cabinet Office-commissioned review "would be largely to remove the checks and balances recommended by Lord Nolan 20 years ago"

Lovegrove to leave DECC after three years at the top, taking over from Jon Thompson at the MoD "shortly"

"We fully appreciate that we will need to do better in the future," says DfE perm sec Chris Wormald, as switch to new accounting method delays parliamentary scrutiny of his department's finances

Shadow cabinet office minister says lack of senior Communities and Local Government officials outside the capital shows "utter contempt" for the rest of the country – but department points out that senior officials "account for less than 5% of the department’s workforce"

Public Accounts Committee points the finger at frequent leadership changes in its report on the Home Office's long-running border data troubles

Iconic Whitehall building sold as part of MoD plans to make estate savings. Department says it will be "sympathetically restored, redeveloped and re-imagined as a high quality hotel and residential apartments"