Adult social care faces huge problems as spiralling demand meets constrained finances. Joshua Chambers investigates possible solutions, and examines how they fit with the government’s desire for localis

Civil service budgets will be a third smaller by 2014-15. Matt Ross, Suzannah Brecknell and Joshua Chambers examine how the government hopes to ensure that the cuts produce reforms, not just retrenchment.

Ben Willis examines how the administration budget cuts build on previous efficiency drives – and names the departments forging ahead with savings.

Government property is set to be squeezed. But Joshua Chambers finds that tough times may catalyse greater sharing of property across the public sector, producing benefits for services as well as cost savings.

This week’s interviewee works for a charity providing social care for people leaving psychiatric hospitals

Six years after the relocation agenda was launched, more than 20,000 civil servants have left the Greater South-East for the North or West. Giles Barrie discovers that their colleagues are unlikely to follow them any time soon.

The voluntary and community sector lies at the centre of the coalition’s plans to promote the Big Society, but the cuts are hitting it hard. Suzannah Brecknell examines how civil servants can work better with the VCS.

Backbench MP Douglas Carswell played a key role in shaping the localist agenda. He tells Joshua Chambers why the Tory party must combat its own centralising tendencies – and why he enjoys coalition with the Lib Dems.

A teacher reflects on how turning a school into one of New Labour’s academies affects the quality of the teaching, the management – and the logos

Tax Increment Financing – like other forms of hypothecated taxation – has long horrified the Treasury. But Stuart Watson finds attitudes changing, in the Exchequer as well as at Westminster and Holyrood.

At Defra, Helen Ghosh ditched Whitehall’s traditional departmental structure in favour of a fluid, project-based system. Now, she tells Matt Ross, we’re facing an even greater revolution in relations between the centre and the front line

This week’s interviewee works for a youth charity, training and managing the volunteers who mentor and support unemployed young people

The previous government’s waste-reduction targets did not prove testing enough to stretch most departments. Joshua Chambers looks at their impact, and examines how cutting waste can also cut public expenditure.

One of David Cameron’s first acts as PM was to increase the pressure to shrink Whitehall’s carbon footprint. James Patterson says that a combination of common sense and modern technology can yield impressive results.

For years, the civil service has been urged to embrace innovation. Now shrinking budgets, the push for public sector reform and greater political appetite for risk are making this essential. Suzannah Brecknell reports.

As the Sustainable Development Commission loses its funding, its chair and chief executive look back with Joshua Chambers at how the government’s sustainability has improved – and at what remains to be done.

After 31 years as a public sector chief, Michael Bichard is stepping down as head of the Institute for Government. He tells Matt Ross that, even in a squeeze, the coalition must succeed where Blair failed – and reform public services.

The new ‘Vacancy Filling Scheme’ promises to radically open up the civil service jobs markets within each of the nine English regions. Ben Willis reports on an enlightened scheme launched at an unfortunate time.

An appearance before the public accounts committee need no longer fill officials with dread, says its new chair, Margaret Hodge. She tells Suzannah Brecknell that she wants a more constructive relationship with civil servants

This week’s interviewee is a probation officer with nearly 30 years’ experience – both in the field, and as a trainer

As central government spending falls, transport minister Norman Baker tells Joshua Chambers that if Whitehall gives local councils and businesses enough space and freedom, they’ll pick up the baton on green transport.

We’ve heard a lot recently about the ‘Big Society’ – but what does it mean for civil servants? Lord Wei, the government’s new adviser on the subject, tells Suzannah Brecknell that he wants to see a fundamental shift in the work of government.

With pressure on the use of ministerial cars, ministers are taking humbler forms of transport. But there are far bigger savings to be made by reforming civil service travel expenses. Suzannah Brecknell reports.

This week’s interviewee is a school business manager responsible for the financial and legal compliance aspects of an inner city school