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

The Equality and Human Rights Commission today launches ‘Is Britain Fairer?’, a comprehensive assessment of Britain’s progress on equality and human rights in the last five years. But, as the EHRC's Verena Brähler writes, a lack of data is preventing public sector bodies from getting the full picture – and could be leaving some groups invisible

While working for the Reform think tank, Richard Harries was asked to carry out a review of the civil service policy profession, speaking to officials, ministers and secretaries of state. He found some were less than impressed with the state of play...

Tax may not be high in the YouTube search history of your average teenager, but HMRC's "Tax Facts" campaign has been described as "cheerful and creative". Maureen Pamplin​, the tax authority's head of sustainability, shares her tips on how departments can engage the public – without dumbing down

Opinion: The need to find new ways of delivering services while resources are tight is the real reason for the new localism push

Whitehall is no stranger to government efficiency drives, but the success of a reform programme depends on the ministers

The FDA general secretary says it’s time to speak up for so-called middle managers, who set the tone for the vast majority of civil servants

Public sector outsourcing has a chequered past, as the 2013 offender tagging scandal demonstrated. But Dr Ian Peters – chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors – says the MoJ's response shows how government departments can make better use of their internal audit teams before embarking on major outsourcing schemes

Natural England's chief executive James Cross reflects on his first year in the job – and says the agency's reforms show environmental protection doesn't have to be at odds with economic growth

The civil service's next HR chief faces a daunting task. Tim Edwards outlines what should be at the top of their ‘to-do’ list

Officials at the sharp end of cuts could be forgiven for feeling cynical about the future of Whitehall – but public service values will endure

Menna Rawlings went from being HR director in a government department to serving as the UK's high commissioner in Australia – not the most obvious career move. But, as she explains, the two roles have more in the common than you might think...