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As Labour highlights the gender pay gap at the Government Equalities Office, Suzannah Brecknell takes a look at the numbers in context – and finds that while female officials in the education department earn £2 less per hour than their male colleagues, they still fare better than peers in other departments and sectors

MPs urge the Government Digital Service to provide more support if it wants departments to embrace digital innovation, after report finds that focus on 'digital by default' hindered delivery of new rural payments scheme

Civil service chief executive John Manzoni talks to Suzannah Brecknell about leadership, transforming government and building relationships with the private sector

At the Department for Communities and Local Government, Melanie Dawes is busy encouraging civil servants to give up their powers over local public services. She opens up to Suzannah Brecknell about stepping back, asking big questions, and the importance of taking all your holidays

 Head of the Government Property Unit challenges departments to test themselves against newly-launched smart working code of practice

NAO finds that the Department for International Development may be over-reliant on external contractors as it responds to an increasing number of crises

Government should be trialling use of distributed ledger technologies to improve welfare payments, according to a report published today

Special report: The civil service is getting happier, according to its most recent People Survey. Suzannah Brecknell explores what else the survey tells us about change and engagement across government

The Department for Transport has addressed the causes of the failed West Coast rail franchise, the NAO spending watchdog finds – but risks remain to future competitions as work on HS2 delays the new West Coast franchise by six months

Think tank advises greater pay freedom and a focus on recruitment, not training, to support civil service reform

Decentralisation will not be a "panacea" for improved public services, think tank warns

Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock sets up a new group to help departments to become "intelligent consumers of their own data" – and promises lunchtime coding groups for civil servants. Audience members at the Open Data Institute meanwhile quiz him on the privatisation of the Postcode Address File

Chatham House urges protection of FCO – while officials reportedly say they are "confident" of a good outcome at the Spending Review

Report by the National Audit Office spending watchdog finds that charity received £46m of public funding over 15 years

Institute for Government finds it is "much harder than it should be" to establish evidence base for public policymaking – and launches new tool to help officials

Work and pensions committee report calls for simplified payment structure and better categorisation of participants

Deloitte’s annual State of the State report on what the next government must consider when creating its public sector reform programmes

Some view mutuals as a brave new world; others, as a sneaky way to push privatisation. CSW hears from those who’ve made the leap.

Iain Rennie, state services commissioner at the New Zealand Government, tells Civil Service World about the strengths and weaknesses of his home civil service

But the perm sec diversity champion has a sceptical audience.

Jaime Perez-Renovales, subsecretary to the Presidency, Spanish Government, tells Civil Service World about the strengths and weaknesses of his home civil service

Top New Zealand official Iain Rennie is reforming a system often lauded in the UK. Suzannah Brecknell reports