After decades of reviews aimed at driving down the civil service's running costs, Sir Michael Barber, former chief of Blair's delivery unit, is hailed by one Whitehall-watcher as "much less celebrity and much more focused on getting the job done"

New appointments in the civil service, UK politics, and public affairs, via our colleagues at Dods People

Internal appointments come ahead of expansion of the public spending watchdog’s remit

New Institute for Government report highlights key frictions between political leaders and Whitehall, including poor drafting and a lack of understanding of parliament

PCS union points out that staffing costs make up a big chunk of departmental spending, and called on Philip Hammond to ditch George Osborne's extra cuts

Civil service's head of executive recruitment tells CSW that new online recruitment tool – Applied – will focus on increasing diversity and speeding up the sifting process

Home Office perm sec on the move, with DfT chief Philip Rutnam taking the reins at Marsham Street

After the merger of DECC and BIS, the new Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's permanent secretary Alex Chisholm tells CSW that his department's low ranking for "organisational objectives and purpose" will be addressed in the next Civil Service People Survey

New appointments in the civil service, UK politics, and public affairs, via our colleagues at Dods People

New report suggests a proportional headcount that is half the civil service-wide average

Chief people officer Rupert McNeil (pictured) says current recruitment technology is “40 or 50 years out of date”

Civil service chief John Manzoni says good relationships between departments and their agencies are built on "trust, clarity of accountability" and a "shared understanding of purpose and outcomes"