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HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) should “marginalise” the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) if disputes cannot “be ended by agreement”, recommends a strategy paper on employee and industrial relations leaked yesterday. 

The UK Space Agency and UK scientists are celebrating the landmark touchdown of Rosetta’s Philae lander — the first ever landing on a comet yesterday. 

Dame Fiona Caldicott has been appointed as the first national data guardian for health and social care, secretary of state for health Jeremy Hunt will announce today.

The first national UK shale college was announced by Business, Enterprise & Energy minister Matthew Hancock today. 

The Home Office have backed a proposal to prevent 17-year-olds being detained in police custody overnight after being charged, it was announced yesterday.

The first director general of Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) has been appointed following the Home Office taking control of the organisation on 1 October. 

The Department of Health (DH) and Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) did not adequately prepare for the delivery of the Better Care Fund, said the National Audit Office’s (NAO) Planning for Better Care Fund report published today. 

Civil servants working in the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ’s) shared services centres face redundancies and office closures following a seven-year contract to outsource services to Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL), says Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). 

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has announced plans to centralise TB testing on farms to ensure greater efficiency from April 2015. 

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) is launching a new strategy to support and protect bees and other pollinators in the UK. 

The Department of Energy & Climate Change’s (DECC’s) current offshore licensing round is set to be the biggest round of licensing since 1964.

The Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC) is asking key figures in the oil and gas industry for their views on the sanctions regime and cost recovery mechanisms of the newly established Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), as part of a consultation on the Wood Review. 

The Marketplace, designed to make it easier for government to do business with IT providers of all sizes, was launched today by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude.

Natalie Ceeney (pictured receiving a CBE) has been appointed as the new chief executive of HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS). 

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced the three private sector companies who have been offered contracts to deliver its £164bn equipment plan. 

“Choices will be made soon on further devolution,” said Dr Jim McCormick as he took up his appointment as a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) on Monday 3 November. 

Greater Manchester will gain significant decision-making powers from Whitehall after chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne and leaders of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) signed a devolution agreement today. 

A survey of MPs reveals a party divide over the decision to hire a businessperson as the new civil service chief.

Public officials should be free to try new approaches without fear of being “hauled in front of ministers, the Public Accounts Committee or being investigated by the National Audit Office”, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) says in a report published today.

The National Audit Office (NAO) today reported that only 62 out of 129 underperforming maintained schools improved their rating following formal intervention.

The Department for Education (DfE) has failed to consistently tackle underperforming maintained schools and academies despite investing at least £382m annually, said a National Audit Office (NAO) report today. 

HM Revenue and Customs will gain greater ability to clamp down on tax evaders following the signing of an international agreement on tax evasion at the Global Forum in Berlin today. 

Peter Lauener has today been announced as the new permanent chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA).

Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander yesterday confirmed government proposals to regulate redundancy payouts for highly paid administrators in the public sector. 

The think tank The Centre for London has called for greater fiscal power and power over services to be transferred from Whitehall to City Hall.

A six week government consultation published this week aims to strengthen the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) capacity to better deal with companies breaking the law over nuisance calls and texts. 

The Defence Select Committee chair has criticised the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) prioritising management skills over local expertise in its overseas staff, and expressed scepticism over the UK’s approach to developing strategy. 

The Home Office’s system of recording and assessing immigration and customs allegations is improving Home Office results but needs further work, said the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration’s report last week. 

Mark Serwotka was re-elected for a fourth term as general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union on 23 October. 

Almost two thirds (65%) of civil servants have suffered from ill health as a result of stress at work, one fifth (19%) of which have taken more than 40 days off within a 12 month period as a result of stress-related ill health, new surveys from the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union reveal. 

Phil Gormley, deputy director-general of the National Crime Agency (NCA), outlined the key crimes the UK recognise as falling under the tier two threat of ‘serious and organised crime’. 

The Department of Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decision to close the Independent Living Fund (ILF) for disabled people was challenged by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on 22 October. 

The threat of serious and organised crime should be given recognition when discussing national security, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA). 

A National Audit Office (NAO) report reveals the number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) deported from the UK remains broadly unchanged whilst the number of FNOs in prison has increased by 4% since 2006 despite a tenfold increase in Home Office staff working on FNO cases. 

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg set out new measures to help public sector workers streamline their workload, improve mental wellbeing and share parental leave with partners.