Economics

Ex-Treasury perm sec challenges David Davis's claims about the civil service's readiness for Brexit, as his former colleague Lord O'Donnell warns of major task presented by Great Repeal Bill

COO, who can expect to earn up to £140,000, set to take a lead on new Brexit-focused department's HR, finance and estates strategy

Tax collection agency beats target by 400,000 users months ahead of self-imposed deadline

Departmental data release breaks down £583m spend on foreign outposts during 2015-16

Report claims Sir Jeremy Heywood secured extra £250m for health service with ultimatum

Department says it is "committed to Verify as the single identification service for individuals and is fully focused on delivering this", amid questions over its use of an alternative to the Cabinet Office-backed platform

Government rejects think tank's calculations which suggest the UK missed target to spend 2% of GDP on defence thanks to unexpectedly strong economic growth

HMRC programme director Mike Howes-Roberts calls for "honest and candid dialogue" with other departments as he confirms tax authority will not make full use of much-heralded GDS platform

Peter Riddell calls for stronger diversity monitoring rules, as government plans a “stock take” of gender balance across public boards

UK Government Investments – which leads on the management and privatisation of state assets – seeks new director

Former head of the civil service's review for Labour says Treasury must "up its game" on financial expertise; do more to support regional growth; and stop "second guessing" departments

Some staff are still uncertain about joining the GCO, Institute for Government researchers find, though the reforms to improve commercial capability are already making an impact

FDA and Prospect argue enhanced salaries but thin pension offer for staff in the new Government Commercial Organisation will deter civil service interest and fail to attract real private sector talent

Green light from the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee follows hearing in which he said the Government Statistical Service appeared to have been “downgraded” over the years

HMRC chief says Building Our Future plans will save more than reported by the National Audit Office earlier this month, but admits keeping hold of local knowledge will be a challenge if staff cannot relocate

New report from cross-party group of MPs highlights risks to shake up of police, ambulance and fire service comms — but praises low leadership churn at the Home Office

Maritime and Coastguard Agency deal worth up to 20% for some staff, and a minimum of 2%

Watchdog cites failure to get Treasury agreement for scheme's lifetime funding as contributing factor to the cancellation of a £100m competition

The chief executive of the Crown Commercial Service has told the Public Accounts Committee that he would rather “take time to build a model that endures” than rush to increase the volume of services bought through and by his centralised procurement team

Brexit secretary insists claims Whitehall doesn’t have the resourcing to cope with leaving the European Union are driven by officials keen to increase their departmental budgets​

Minister Ben Gummer says his department is working with the Civil Service Commission to unwind coalition-era reforms – but questions remain over fate of staff already brought into government

"No deal for Britain is better than a bad deal for Britain," says prime minister in major Chatham House address

Comes after supplier Concentrix "consistently failed to achieve more than half of its performance targets" during first year of its tax credit checks contract

More pre-Budget consultation, the creation of a new Cabinet committee, and a tougher stance from Treasury perm secs feature on think tanks' wish list