Government Tax Profession

This year’s Civil Service Award winners were announced yesterday, at a ceremony held at Lancaster House and featuring speeches by prime minister David Cameron and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.

The Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act is on track to make savings but it is not clear whether the reforms have delivered better value for money, the National Audit Office (NAO) reported today.

Further devolution of budgets and control of the criminal justice system would deliver savings without cutting police numbers, said the deputy mayor of policing and crime Stephen Greenhalgh on Monday. 

Former BP executive Lord Browne will step down from his positions as the lead non-executive director for both the government and the Cabinet Office in January 2015, it was announced today. 

Despite a public commitment to open contracting, the UK government has not signed up to a new open contracting data standard that was launched globally today. 

Francis Maude’s tweaks to a core facet of our democracy have the support of key players. But what about everybody else?

Former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell has spoken up for evidence-based policymaking – an approach often distorted by poor data or trumped by anecdotes

Portcullis House was evacuated this morning after a “suspicious” looking item was found.  Police have since told CSW this was a “false alarm” and people have been allowed back into the building.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has become a sponsor for TechHub Swansea. Mike Bracken (pictured), head of the Government Digital Service, launched the initiative in Swansea today. 

David Blackall took up the position of acting chief executive of the Major Projects Authority (MPA) on 13 October, after being director of operations for a year.

Kevin Hyland was appointed as the UK’s first independent anti-slavery commissioner by Home Secretary Theresa May yesterday. 

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) should “marginalise” the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) if disputes cannot “be ended by agreement”, recommends a strategy paper on employee and industrial relations leaked yesterday. 

Hilary Spencer became the new director of Civil Service Learning (CSL) at the end of October, taking over from Jerry Arnott, who retired from the civil service.

Government’s flagship mutual, MyCSP, has failed to pay some retired civil servants their pensions on schedule, after a shift to bring its payment functions in-house hit an IT problem, the Guardian reported on Saturday.

Dame Fiona Caldicott has been appointed as the first national data guardian for health and social care, secretary of state for health Jeremy Hunt will announce today.

The civil service must foster “a more vibrant, competitive marketplace” of government contractors and rebuild its skills in contract management, the government’s outgoing chief operating officer Stephen Kelly has told CSW.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) have now moved their digital Vehicle Management service to private beta.

The first national UK shale college was announced by Business, Enterprise & Energy minister Matthew Hancock today. 

The Home Office have backed a proposal to prevent 17-year-olds being detained in police custody overnight after being charged, it was announced yesterday.

Changes were made last month to how civil servants give evidence to select committees.

UK standards body BSI has published a guide to help standardise data and systems to help local government guide the creation of “smart cities”.

The Department of Health (DH) and Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) did not adequately prepare for the delivery of the Better Care Fund, said the National Audit Office’s (NAO) Planning for Better Care Fund report published today. 

Civil servants working in the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ’s) shared services centres face redundancies and office closures following a seven-year contract to outsource services to Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL), says Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). 

The way arm’s-length government is structured and held to account was branded “confused” and “opaque” in a Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) report today, and the Cabinet Office was called upon to bring clarity to how these bodies and organisations work within the civil service.