Economy

With the end of 2016 fast approaching, we asked the UK's top officials to look back at the year, outline their goals for 2017 – and shed some light on their festive favourites. Permanent secretary, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

With the end of 2016 fast approaching, we asked the UK's top officials to look back at the year, outline their goals for 2017 – and shed some light on their festive favourites. Infrastructure and Projects Authority chief executive Tony Meggs, takes part in our annual perm secs round-up​

Former chief executive of the Office of Rail and Road has also been Defra and Home Office chief economist

The Department for Exiting the EU will be given £94m a year from 2017, while the FCO and trade department receive extra funding to build trade policy capability. But the FDA union has warned of EU exit "on the cheap"

Live coverage of the build-up, announcements and reaction as chancellor Philip Hammond makes his first fiscal statement, via our colleagues on PoliticsHome.com

 Former head of the civil service Lord Kerslake urges government to "pause, review, take stock of what it has in front of it and then revisit the question of capacity"

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

Manzoni and Gummer convene refreshed advisory panel as government reiterates commitment to channel 33% of procurement spend through SMEs

New strategy unveiled by the chancellor to be broken up into three strands – "defence, deter and develop" 

After a career in finance that included a stint in the former battlegrounds of South East Asia, UK Export Finance chief executive Louis Taylor faces challenges on a new front: supporting UK exporters in an era of Brexit uncertainty. Colin Marrs meets him

Appointments watchdog Acoba says Kingman had "no direct role in most policies that affected" Legal and General during his time at the Treasury

Tax-collection agency names commissioner successor to Edward Troup as part of accountability rejig

Public Accounts Committee criticises decision to class new carrier bag charges as a deregulatory measure, as officials indicate that many more regulations will soon come under scope of government's Business Impact Target

Transport permanent secretary Philip Rutnam's request for a ministerial direction over funding guarantees for the controversial project to build a new bridge over the Thames brings the total number of directions since last May to seven - more than twice the number under the coalition government

George Osborne's successor at the Treasury says his fiscal approach will involve "recognising the need for investment"

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Institute for Government, and the Chartered Institute of Taxation say the UK's tax system suffers from "too little sense of direction, consultation or evaluation"

Offer to unions on civil service redundancy shake-up could come as early as today, CSW understands, as Treasury sets out broader reform "framework"

A “health check” on more than 70 UK regulators has found fewer than one-third have any policy on staff taking up jobs with the firms they oversee

Department for International Trade director general John Alty promises would-be Trade Policy Group staffers a “tremendously exciting time” in Brexit fray

Civil servants are famed for their analytical skills, but debts, deficits and downturns can still be perplexing concepts. David Tyrrall from the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy offers a handy primer on the basics of national accounting – and busts a few myths on the way

Downing Street source says prime minister Theresa May is "100% committed" to HS2 despite departure of Britain's highest-paid civil servant

Civil service network seeks to build pan-Whitehall expertise in areas such as payment-by results and agent-based modelling

Council chiefs urge greater say in DWP's replacement for the Work Programme

Treasury committee chair Andrew Tyrie wants a return to publishing Treasury analysis that shows how policies will impact household incomes