Foreign Affairs

With the end of 2016 fast approaching, we asked the UK's top civil servants to look back at the year, outline their goals for 2017 – and shed some light on their festive favourites.Clare Moriarty, permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs takes part in our annual perm secs round-up​

DIT officials say Whitehall has trebled its trade policy staff numbers since the referendum, and stress focus on training up existing staff rather than drafting in outsiders

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

FCO perm sec Simon McDonald has told MPs he is “hopeful” that the Treasury will announce a new fund to recruit trade policy staff in today’s Autumn Statement

 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"

Labour Party says appointment of Pippa Malmgren raises “awkward questions” for international trade secretary Liam Fox

Aid watchdog hands international development department an amber/red rating for its exit and transition work, but DfID disputes the "rushed" report

Former Cabinet Office minister says he "very much" doubts more staff will be needed for Brexit and says departments can "reallocate" existing officials – as Downing Street claims leaked memo may be an attempt by consultants to win business

Next week's set piece fiscal statement will not include extra resources to cope with Brexit, according to a memo leaked to The Times

Making a success of Brexit does not mean UK should ditch its reputation as a "free, tolerant, outward facing society", says former Foreign Office permanent secretary

Director general for defence and intelligence Sarah MacIntosh to take up posting next year

Institute for Government says ruling on Parliamentary approval for Article 50 trigger will “greatly impact” Theresa May’s plans to enact leave mechanism by March 2017

Cabinet secretary seeks to take on claims that the civil service was biased in the EU referendum campaign and under-prepared in the aftermath of the vote

Iraq inquiry chair tells MPs that senior officials must "insist on their right to be heard and to record what their advice is" if they are to learn the lessons of the Iraq invasion

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

Foreign secretary Boris Johnson’s first select committee grilling provides laughs and helpful sketches of flags, but little policy insight

Exclusive: David Cameron’s former policy guru tells CSW that Brexit negotiations will be like a “multi-dimensional game of chess” and officials must co-ordinate analysis work to make sure British politicians have upper hand

If government were to explore how UK tax policies impact on developing countries, it is entirely possible that it would identify ‘win-win’ situations, says Richard Gledhill of the Independent Commission on Aid Impact

The FDA union argues that appointment of Cameron's former chief of staff Ed Llewellyn "undermines the principles of selection on merit"

Cabinet secretary says call from senior officials to let top civil servants go public with concerns would introduce a "degree of antagonism between the cabinet secretary and the prime minister"

As cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood prepares to face MPs' questions on the Iraq Inquiry, the Better Government Initiative – whose members include former departmental chiefs – calls for new way to let senior officials raise their concerns

National Audit Office says the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme team moved quickly to take in more refugees after outcry – but says councils need more reassurance on funding

"Open, international" hunt for a new official to lead the Brexit-focused trade department may not be plain sailing for the trade secretary, experts tell CSW

New Cabinet Office minister argues that the civil service has "already risen to the challenge" of Brexit as Labour says now is not the time to be "laying off civil servants and slashing budgets"