Finding the right words to describe a problem is important, but we shouldn’t let uncertainty about terminology stop us tackling the challenge of racial disparity, argues a group of civil servants from across government

Infrastructure and Projects Authority chief executive Nick Smallwood reflects on his first few months since joining government in August and his aims for the agency in 2020

The government’s one year Spending Round has brought very little security to departments. But it does recognise that government much be more strategic

Alanna Reid, a policy adviser at the Cabinet Office’s public appointments policy team, reports on an intersectionality event held by the Cabinet Office LGBT+ Network and Gender Equality Group as part of national inclusion week

The Next Steps programme represented a generation of reform from Thatcher to New Labour, driven by a desire to deliver services via executive agencies. Carole and Colin Talbot explore its chequered history

Mallory Compton and Paul ’t Hart argue that knowing what went wrong in the past doesn’t always help governments get things right in the future

Despite its relatively compact proportions, No. 10 Downing Street packs a hefty historical punch. Sue Cameron peruses the pages of researcher-in-residence Jack Brown’s new book

The weeks ahead will likely be dominated by politics, not policy. Private offices should play a key role in helping officials understand what is driving ministers’ decisions, says Tim Durrant

Dominic Cummings is sending signals out across government about how he plans to operate. But even the most high-profile special advisers have no real power – they only speak with the authority of their political bosses.

The leak of the Cabinet Office’s Operation Yellowhammer contingency planning shows how much government is working on mitigating the risks it can predict from a no-deal Brexit. But the government cannot prepare for things it doesn’t know will happen

Damascene conversions on civil service brilliance should be backed with proper recognition and reward, says Prospect deputy general secretary

Martin Stanley highlights some publications that could help get ideas flowing

Policy think tanks have become important in the development of policy in a relatively short space of time. Colin Talbot and Carole Talbot ask if this a good thing

Former civil servant Steve O'Neil takes a fresh look at the appliance of science at the heart of government

John Manzoni highlights the progress being made on the use of data as an asset to counter fraud, and invites civil servants and all interested sectors to share and contribute to a government thought paper on how to do more

In China, a bold approach to working with the private sector is having a huge impact which has put it at the forefront of digital government, says Joshua Chambers

The only certainty in the Conservative leadership race is that some civil servants will get a new boss, says the Institute for Government’s Tim Durrant

To successfully handle new post-Brexit powers, public bodies across the UK will need to build on ways they already work together – and manage divergence – across the nations

 Trump's petulant and quasi-hysterical reaction has served only to prove the Darroch hypothesis

Taking a stand for civil service impartiality is more important now than at any time in the past 100 years

Following news of Olly Robbins' likely departure, Brexiteers must stop treating civil servants like parents turning up at your first Glastonbury and act with level-headedness

Government chief commercial officer Gareth Rhys Williams has set out ambitious plans to improve contract management across government. He tells CSW what has been achieved in the first six months of a new accreditation scheme

Select committees have a key duty to hold those who hold power to account. Former MP Huw Edwards looks at how they have changed in the 40 years since they were created, and what parliamentarians are looking for when they are taking evidence.

The scale, constraints and pressure of Brexit have very few comparators – and the clock is ticking. Is it any wonder that the complexity of trying to deliver it is keeping civil servants up at night?