Civil Service Reform

Radical plan set to ease long-standing tensions between the culture department and the MoD

Decade-long IT contract – underpinning £500bn in tax revenue – to come to an early end

Culture minister Ed Vaizey says a central government drive is needed to join up disparate digital technology initiatives being pursued by departments in isolation

DfID’s Angela Balakrishnan tells Max Goldbart how cross-government working and innovative content helped to keep the public informed at the height of the Ebola outbreak

A new book by Beth Simone Noveck – a former open-government adviser to both US president Barack Obama and prime minister David Cameron – contains useful lessons for the civil service on finding the right expertise

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

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"

Departments to spearhead use of HR metrics, and target apprenticeships and internships at working class kids, as Cabinet Office updates its diversity Talent Action Plan

Since Clare Moriarty became permanent secretary of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs last August, she has found herself drawing on three decades of Whitehall experience to tackle challenges like flooding and organisational reform. Jess Bowie meets her

A lack of challenging advice, no control over important appointments and poor management information are among the frustrations voiced by David Laws, Greg Barker, Ken Clarke, Stephen Hammond and Baroness Kramer speaking in the latest interviews under the Institute for Government's 'Ministers Reflect' series

Cabinet Office's Warren Smith wants service to become the first port of call for procurement

Microsoft considers the safest way to push the boundaries of innovation

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

Passing powers from Whitehall to local areas is a key government goal. But do civil servants have enough understanding of what is happening on the ground to make the policy work? Colin Marrs talks to experts and officials to find out

New data science projects given the go-ahead in this week’s Budget will give the nation richer and more precise economic figures, the Office for National Statistics has said

PAC report casts doubt on ability of beefed-up major projects watchdog to scrutinise government’s biggest schemes, and calls on Cabinet Office to explain how it will meet skills shortages needed for "transformation"

Proposals to make local government financially self-sufficient by 2020 must not be impacted by George Osborne's business-boosting measures, a lobby group has warned

Budget pledges a further £71m investment in HMRC's frontline operations "to improve the service it provides taxpayers".

FDA union chief Dave Penman says pensions move will make make budget cuts "significantly worse” than the chancellor's headline announcements

Plans to end local authority reliance on Whitehall gather pace

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"

Suzannah Brecknell crunches the latest Office for National Statistics figures on public sector employment

Live coverage and reaction as chancellor sets out the 2016 Budget, provided by our colleagues on PoliticsHome.com. CSW will be have the key Whitehall stories and reaction throughout the afternoon

"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