Commercial

National Audit Office updates MPs on HMRC's progress to replace Aspire

Think tank praises updated blueprint for public-sector procurement but warns new clause must be used

Common Technology Service director details joined-up approach to handle “£8bn in contract exits”

Acting permanent secretary poised to take on £340,000-a-year City of London role

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

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

Spending watchdog criticises Cabinet Office for oversight of plan to merge back office functions, as delays and lack of buy-in lops millions off savings target

MPs call on Cabinet Office to “re-invigorate” initiatives aimed at increasing the amount of money government spends with small and medium-sized enteprises

Crown Commercial Service to roll out the Open Contracting Data Standard across Whitehall by the autumn, as Cabinet Office acknowledges current contracts info acting as a "barrier to suppliers and businesses"

Just-published guide from the public spending watchdog says government needs sustained effort to bring commercial and contracting work up to scratch

Justice secretary Michael Gove says improvement board report highlights “broader problems” with the youth justice system

Prime minister David Cameron to set out new process of "open contracting" at anti-corruption summit

Cabinet Office’s Iain Patterson cautions against changing departmental tech for the sake of it, as he sheds more light on ‘Ocean Liner’ review of big government IT contracts

Government Digital Service chief Stephen Foreshew-Cain tells CSW that officials with digital, data and technology skills could sit outside of the civil service grading system in a bid to attract and retain staff

Ministry of Justice says it will announce "next steps in due course" amid reports Medway Secure Training Centre to be brought into public control

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee chair Bernard Jenkin says legislation may be needed to make non-executive directors brought into government feel less disposable

Spending watchdog to take its first detailed look at the central government procurement agency

National Audit Office says probation services "have been sustained throughout a period of major changes" – but warns of "unsurprising frictions" between private and public sector staff

Former chief of defence materiel, who left the civil service at the end of 2015, to carry out progress review for the MoD on equipment buying

Mismatch between school year used by academies and DfE's own accounting period means parliament cannot properly hold the department to account, says the NAO

Government's top IT official taking on newly-created role of national technology adviser

Social enterprise takes over reins of public sector development programme as government ends centrally-funded support

Mystery Shopper report highlights challenges of encouraging suppliers to form partnerships to bid for government contracts

John Manthorpe accuses government of wanting to "sell the Land Registry for a quick price to reduce the deficit"