Economy

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

Juan Garcés de Marcilla, Director of Copernicus Services, ECMWF, explains the purpose of the EU’s earth observation programme and the economic and moral imperative to act on the insight it provides.

PAC says "encouraging signs of change" on the commercial front – but urges Cabinet Office to do more to chase up departments who are failing to make progress

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

There is much to learn from the MyCSP fiasco, which has caused a great deal of distress to people who have worked hard for the civil service

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"

Review says Department for Transport must do more to shape the future development of the nation's rail infrastructure

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".

Chancellor says: "I’ve made adjustments to my plans to make sure we are going to live within our means"

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

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

Chancellor pays tribute to "great public servant" – but SNP MPs jeer reference to "impartiality"

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

Weaker growth and delayed sales of government assets expected to contribute to missed target

"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

Tax authority challenged the legality of two offshore schemes designed by the banks to avoid paying tax on bankers' bonuses

"We also think it unlikely that anyone earning less than £27,000 would be hit by the cap," says BIS minister, as government sees off Labour plan to tie limit to inflation and exempt the private sector

Defeat on BIS plans came after a last-ditch attempt by George Osborne to stave off a Tory rebellion

DCMS permanent secretary Sue Owen says department is "just about" at the minimum levels of staffing it needs to do its job –  but says department is in a "much, much more fortunate place" than expected before the Spending Review

Tom Walker – who heads cross-government cities and local growth team – hails "ever closer integration" and close support of the Treasury as ministers press ahead with devolution drive

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"