First civil service commissioner Sir David Normington is normally the one asking the questions: it's his job to chair top-level Whitehall recruitments. Matt Ross turns the tables, quizzing Normington on his battle to defend an impartial civil service. Photos by Mark Weeks.

But the perm sec diversity champion has a sceptical audience.

Winnie Agbonlahor hears new director general regret past 'last of investment in leadership.'

MPs are sceptical about the rush to appoint a CEO, reports Winnie Agbonlahor.

Uniquely, the Home Office has kept National Archives assessors at bay. Samera Owusu Tutu hears the TNA bid for access.

A year into the Government Property Unit’s latest attempt to coordinate the use of public land assets, Mark Rowe tests reactions to the scheme – and draws out the lessons learned. Illustration by Miles Cole

Our colleagues in Dods Monitoring have put together a wall chart detailing the government's full ministerial breakdown, including names of spads and contact details for each minister.

FCO historian Richard Smith explains his department’s response to the Great War

Malcolm Stirling, Business Consultant, Monster Worldwide Ltd

Journalist and historian Peter Hennessy meets former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine to discuss his life in politics – and his views of the civil service.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate saw its people survey score for management visibility rise by 12 points in a year. Its programme strategy manager David Lewsey explains how he did it

Sue Owen explains why she loves the ’pool – and why the Everton Ground holds a special meaning for her.

When it comes to the workplace, change is happening all around us. Organisations and their employees are seeing changes regarding who they work with, where they work and how they work. Whilst many of these changes have happened in the last decade, it’s during the last couple of years that we’ve seen change with such ferocity that it is affecting all organisations around the world. 

Dataset  _Land use statistics

Data owner  _The Office for National Statistics

Accessed at  _http://bit.ly/1r4Vj7g

Contact  _access2data@ons.gsi.gov.uk

Interviewee  _Jeni Tennison, Open Data Institute

When university fees tripled in the coalition’s early days, there were dire warnings of the effect on social mobility and student numbers. But as Suzannah Brecknell reports, the real dangers lay elsewhere.

Jaime Perez-Renovales, subsecretary to the Presidency, Spanish Government, tells Civil Service World about the strengths and weaknesses of his home civil service

Graham Allen, chair of the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee, tells Winnie Agbonlahor why government must increase its focus on the long term

As the search begins for a new head of the civil service, read the last interview by incumbent Sir Bob Kerslake – interviewed with the new titular head of the civil service Sir Jeremy Heywood. Words by Matt Ross; picture by Mark Weeks

Government is in the enviable position of having lots of data about its citizens. But the current culture, systems and processes make it difficult to unlock the insight held within that data to better understand citizens, improve services and drive efficiency.

 

How can civil servants unlock the value of government data? Stuart Watson reports from a debate on the benefits and challenges of data sharing. Photos by Paul Heartfield

Sir David Nicholson was appointed chief executive of the NHS in 2006. He retained his position after the coalition came to power and pursued a set of reforms so big, he said, that you could probably see them from space.

‘Big data’ has huge potential – but it’s stoking public concerns over privacy. Ipsos MORI’s Gideon Skinner and Anne Charlton explain the latest research.

Like Robert the Bruce’s persistent spider, the people trying to reform the way the Ministry of Defence buys and manages equipment keep returning to the fray. Colin Marrs reports

John Pullinger has this month started his new job as the UK’s new national statistician. He tells Winnie Agbonlahor about his priorities in the role.