Leadership

CSW readers react to Labour's perm sec quotas plan – and the Cabinet Office's proposal to find out more about the backgrounds of Fast Stream applicants

New £160,000-a-year "Continuous Improvement Director" asked to track progress against commercial improvement plans departments have agreed with the Cabinet Office

Whitehall's HR directors asked to collect data on public interest concerns for the first time – with the majority of officials choosing to come forward anonymously

Select committees do valuable work, but the relentless grandstanding by some of their members damages public services and does nothing to hold government to account

Microsoft makes the case for local councils to move to the cloud

The former Energy and Climate Change chief scientist, who died earlier this year, taught his department how to do policymaking without the hot air – by making the process data-led, iterative and open

Think tank focusing on effectivess of government names Prospect editor as new director following departure of Peter Riddell

Public Accounts Committee says system is “bedevilled by long standing poor performance” and urges the Ministry of Justice to do more to understand likely impact of cutting resources

In an era of protracted belt-tightening in government, how can departments collaborate on policy design to save money and improve outcomes for the citizen? A recent CSW round table explored these issues, as Colin Marrs reports

Civil Service Board backs move to let key commercial staff work directly for the centre of government, potentially sitting outside of departmental pay and grading

Microsoft looks at the digital infrastructure that allows cities to prosper

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills perm sec Martin Donnelly vows to ensure staff are "fully supported" as he confirms plan to shut Sheffield policy site by January 2018. CSW has full details and reaction from the PCS and FDA unions, Labour, and frontline staff

Dame Judith Hackitt, the new head of the manufacturers’ organisation EEF, spent nine years overseeing the Health & Safety Executive before returning to her roots in industry. Sam Macrory meets her

Department for Business perm sec Martin Donnelly arrives to brief staff on possible St Paul's Place closure plans – as strike action continues

Labour leader backs long-running aim of the Public and Commercial Services union, that would see an end to departmental chiefs setting their own pay for staff

Sir Ian Cheshire says government will publish only “top level” metrics on progress against published Single Departmental Plans – which are themselves summaries of more detailed plans held internally

Civil service diversity champion wants more info on levels of awareness and take-up of workplace adjustments among disabled officials – and says tackling bullying and harassment will require a change in culture

Since CSW last spoke to the Department for Transport’s permanent secretary Philip Rutnam he has taken on the role of disability champion for the civil service. Here, he talks to Suzannah Brecknell about the importance of skilling up his department and his aspirations for helping all staff reach their potential

Tech entrepreneur and government digital adviser tells The House magazine that Government Digital Service was right to  "go fast" in its early years – but says reform efforts must not become "balkanised" in separate departments

Microsoft's Kris Evans offers a glimpse into a hacker's mindset and tactics 

NATS, which manages all flights in UK controlled airspace, has achieved unprecedented results using Microsoft's SQL Server and Azure

Former Department of Health permanent secretary Dame Una O’Brien and the DH's current deputy director of legislation and policy reflect on the lessons from a series of seminars drawing on insights from past healthcare leaders and those working on the innovations of the future

Writing exclusively for CSW, Neil Couling – director general of the Department for Work and Pensions' Universal Credit programme – says strong political backing, a "test and learn" approach to delivery, and giving staff the space to develop has helped get the welfare reform scheme back on track

Microsoft surveys a handful of capabilities offered by SQL Server 2016