Sir Nicholas Macpherson – the longest serving Treasury perm sec for sixty years – can be credited with overseeing the rebuilding of the finance ministry. But his successor faces a formidable in-tray

It’s right that the current crop of successful, committed public servants have been recognised by the honours system. But with senior officials’ pay and reward packages decreasing while the political risk associated with their roles shoots up, will the government be able to attract equally talented successors? 

The public services watchdog seeks help from civil servants in drawing up a new service charter

Labour’s new commission – led by the former head of the civil service – can learn a host of lessons from previous bids to wrest power from the chancellor, says our columnist Sue Cameron

Police and the FCO may have got off more lightly than feared at November’s Spending Review, but many other departments face a substantial real-terms squeeze over the next four years

Former BIS special adviser Josie Cluer looks at the case for separating some of the Treasury’s functions and giving them to a single department, charged with coordinating policy across government to drive growth

This year marks the 150th anniversary of state veterinary service. For the UK’s chief veterinary officer Nigel Gibbens, it’s the perfect opportunity to reflect on the achievements of his profession, and consider what lies ahead in the ever-changing role of a government vet

Ministers keep talking about hammering down public sector terms to private sector levels, while dreaming up new exemptions in order to compete

Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood pays tribute to the prime minister’s late principal private secretary Chris Martin, a remarkable official who embodied the enduring values of the civil service he loved

The Spending Review has left departments with little option but to transform their operations, says the Centre for Public Impact's Adrian Brown – the question now is how that happens

As first civil service commissioner, it’s Sir David Normington’s job to ensure civil servants are appointed on merit — but the commission also tries to ensure that the values of honesty, impartiality, integrity and objectivity are upheld. And, as Normington writes, those values are one of the civil service’s major selling points

Reaction to the chancellor's Spending Review from Peter Riddell, Matthew Taylor, Dave Penman, Mark Serwotka, Garry Graham and Carolyn Fairbairn

How smart is your team? Bruce Mann, executive director of the Government Property Unit, on the importance of smart working and how the civil service is celebrating and supporting teams who want to adopt it

The chief executive of the Whitehall & Industry Group discusses key lessons from his time as disability champion at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

We rightly expect a lot from our perm secs – and the controversy over public funding for the Kids Company charity shows how important their advice can be

No employer in the private sector would see a five year pay freeze – followed by a 1% cap – as the route to success, argues the deputy general secretary of the Prospect union

Opinion: A private business of comparable size would give as much data as possible to its leaders, to enable them to assess competing priorities

As the Spending Review looms, Stian Westlake of Nesta argues that reducing the influence of the Treasury could replace the essay-crisis drama of Budgets and Autumn Statements with a more thoughtful budgetary process

A look back at Margaret Thatcher's time in office shows the real story of balance and partnership between ministers and civil servants

Ahead of tonight's Civil Service Awards ceremony at Buckingham Palace, the Cabinet secretary hails the "passion, imagination and ingenuity" of officials across government

As departments go digital, civil service leaders will have to grapple with the physical disconnection that more flexible ways of working can bring

Ombudsman’s report has harsh words for Home Office and lessons for all government departments about how to use complaints to improve services

The Kids Company fiasco is just another example of political aspirations trumping objective analysis. Officials must be more willing to challenge ministerial folly, argues the chief executive of the RSA

Senior officials Richard Heaton and Chris Wormald faced a tough time at PAC on Monday over the government's funding of Kids Company. Dan Corry – former head of the Number 10 Policy Unit and now chief executive of New Philanthropy Capital – argues that the charity's good intentions made it easier to avoid questions about effectiveness and decent management