Commercial

Spending watchdog questions the government’s claims on SME spending, and urges departments to make sure that initiatives to improve commercial capability do not undermine attempts to support small companies

CCS sets out thinking behind replacement of Payroll, Human Resources (HR) and Finance Managed Services (PHRF) framework

All Atos contracts worth more than £10m now under review after public accounts committee said the outsourcing firm had "acted solely with its own short term best interests in mind" on GP data service

Public Accounts Committee points the finger at frequent leadership changes in its report on the Home Office's long-running border data troubles

“I love disruptive procurement,” says CCS’s commercial delivery director

“We're at the start of the government platform,” GDS executive director tells the Public Sector ICT Summit 

£23.2m contract to develop a new generation of GPS tags scrapped because it has proved “too challenging”. The MoJ tells CSW it still expects to see benefits of spending to date on the deal

Public Accounts Committee criticises lack of transparency over HM Revenue and Customs' £130m, ten-year tax deal with Google – but says department has taken "a step in the right direction" in pledging reform of penalty regime

Peter Wilkinson, director of rail passenger services at the DfT, comes under fire after reportedly telling commuters they had "got to break" industrial action over changes to train drivers' terms

Ministers say new, single documents bringing together spending totals and broad reform plans will "enable the public to see how government is delivering"

Prospect members at the Met Office to stage latest walk-out over pay

Director for G-Cloud and the digital commercial programme at the Government Digital Service moving to become deputy director of the BIS digital service

"Technology Products 2" framework will launch later this year – and CCS has begun conversations with departments and suppliers about improving the £1bn-a-year arrangement for buying in hardware and software

As Home Office prepares to take on full responsibility for fire and rescue services from the Department for Communities and Local Government, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee say Whitehall must do more to understand the local implications of budget cuts

Latest Labour Market Outlook from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) finds public sector employers expecting to award a lower basic pay increase than when last surveyed – but wage growth also weakening in the private sector

MP Meg Hillier tells CSW that public confidence in the way HM Revenue and Customs reaches settlement deals with large corporations will be an issue until there is greater transparency

Transport department has improved its ability to let rail franchises, MPs say, but still lacks the capability to manage them, and does not have a “coherent strategic vision” for the rail system

Rolling out text alerts, sorting out "crap" government IT, cleaning up data, and trying to recruit skilled people when the money's tight — there's plenty going on in the world of government digital, as Matt Foster found at the Government Digital Service's annual gathering

Latest Outsourcing Index by firm arvato finds 26% year-on-year rise in government spending on outsourcing

Treasury committee questions why internal auditors did not raise concerns about government funding of the now-collapsed Kids Company youth charity

As Cabinet Office launches new government-wide set of commercial standards, civil service chief executive John Manzoni talks up recruitment of contract experts – and explains tricky balancing act of supporting departments "in an intelligent, helpful, and yet challenging way"

National Audit Office report finds City of London Corporation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Confederation of British Industry, and Deloitte topping list of providers of hospitality and gifts to senior officials — and calls for better central scrutiny of transparency returns