Communications

Lin Homer tells MPs on the Public Accounts Committee that HMRC's "most basic" jobs will continue to be cut as department reduces number of sites across UK

Committee chair warns change to rules ahead of Europe vote has "cast a shadow of doubt over the propriety of the process"

Cabinet secretary says proposed purdah rule change is needed to eliminate legal uncertainty for ministers, and says civil service impartiality will not be undermined

Prime minister urges Whitehall officials to make communications "brief, simple, human and jargon-free"

Independent Commission for Aid Impact says DfID’s aid measurement focuses too much on short term financial results over long term ‘transformative change’

Inquiry led by cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood points the finger at former scottish secretary and his special adviser for leaking of Nicola Sturgeon memo, but civil servant at centre of claims is cleared

Higher Education Policy Institute sounds alarm on un-recouped student loans

Civil service memo on Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon's private conversation with French Ambassador originated in Scotland Office, it emerges, as Cabinet Office-led leak inquiry gets underway

Public Administration Select Committee attacks Treasury decision to publish letter on sharing the pound with an independent Scotland, and warns Scottish government's own 'White Paper' too political

Downing Street spokesperson says David Cameron disagrees with unions' view that civil service code change will undermine transparency

NAO chief Amyas Morse warns officials may not be thinking through implications of spending reductions

Departments tell National Audit Office cross-government working would be bolstered by better 'support and challenge' at the centre of government

Whitehall should be prepared to take responsibility for delivering programmes, says Troubled Families chief Louise Casey

Former cabinet secretary warns too many politicians 'don't get' poverty

New HMT and Cabinet Office plan to highlight UK taxpayer funding sparks SNP attack

Treasury favourite leaves for Ofcom in March 2015

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has denied telling its employees how to vote in the Scottish referendum, after its permanent secretary Robert Devereux issued department-wide guidance on the topic.

The Lords’ European Union Committee has called for the creation of a cross-government communications strategy regarding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – a proposed free trade agreement between the EU and the US.

The government will recruit 100 “digital natives” into its communications arms, comms chief Alex Aiken announced yesterday.

Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood (pictured) and Treasury permanent secretary Sir Nicholas Macpherson are to investigate whether the prime minister broke government rules by writing an official letter to nearly two million businesses on the eve of European elections.

Departments must stop using commercial confidentiality as a reason for withholding information about contracts, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said in a report published today.

The Home Office, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Cabinet Office are combining their internal design teams to create a new cross-government shared service, CSW can reveal.

The gov.uk website is to be adapted to ensure that the civil service communications profession can more easily use it to run campaigns, the government’s executive director for communications Alex Aiken (pictured below) has told Civil Service World.

The annual Civil Service People Survey (CSPS) shows increased satisfaction with training opportunities this year, but another fall in scores associated with pay and benefits.