The MoD is consistently out-negotiated by its private sector suppliers, chief of defence materiel Bernard Gray tells Matt Ross: he wants to bring in some serious firepower from private business to work on our defence procurement

In pursuit of the IPPR’s findings on perm sec appointments, Winnie Agbonlahor tracks down report author Guy Lodge.

The coalition’s Green Investment Bank has been tasked with boosting private investment in the green economy – a high-potential sector constrained by limited finance. Winnie Agbonlahor meets chief executive Shaun Kingsbury.

Outgunned on salaries by the private sector, the civil service often struggles to recruit and retain world-class talent. Stuart Watson attends a CSW round table on how to bring top employees into Whitehall – and keep them there.

This week’s interviewee works for a council, giving policy advice and running projects with charities and the local community.

As the Bishop of Liverpool’s effective Hillsborough panel demonstrates, inquiries don’t always require huge amounts of time and money. Presenting a spotter’s guide to inquiries, Suzannah Brecknell tracks their continuing evolution.

Companies House chief Tim Moss runs a happy team in laid-back Cardiff, but there’s plenty of tensions in his job – like those between deregulation and tackling fraud, or open data and revenue generation. Matt Ross meets him

All new ministers should undergo compulsory training and yearly appraisals led by one minister in the Cabinet Office, according to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee’s report published today.

Very few jobs these days can be undertaken without any qualifications or tuition – but if you’re running the country, you may not even receive an induction. Joshua Chambers reports on the prospects for ministerial training.

Over the last year the chairman of Standard Life, Gerry Grimstone, has been visiting Ministry of Defence offices to meet and speak with civil servants from across the department. It's not a very personal bid for defence civil servants to reconsider their savings choices, but part of his role as the department's lead non-executive director. Grimstone, in common with many other departmental non-executive directors, wants to improve communications between boards and civil servants.

This week’s interviewee works for Jobcentre Plus, handling benefit claims and helping people to find work

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) spent years engulfed in painful criticism. Mark Grimshaw, who came in as chief executive two years ago determined to turn things around, tells Winnie Agbonlahor how he’s smartened up its act

The Social Value Act came into force at the start of this year, requiring public bodies to consider using procurement to produce wider benefits. Winnie Agbonlahor reports on a round table held to discuss the new law’s implications.

As government’s chief technology officer, Liam Maxwell is responsible for shaking up Whitehall’s IT operations in the pursuit of cost and time savings. Joshua Chambers meets the radical reformer in conservative cloth

A university welfare officer warns that privatisation is weakening the support for students, whilst fees narrow the student group

Aeronautics are a good example of a new form of partnership between government and industry. Suzannah Brecknell looks at the levers which can enable Whitehall and business to effectively work togeth

The government has appointed six new crown representatives from the business world in order to help Whitehall departments get the best deal out of suppliers. Winnie Agbonlahor introduces the new recruits

The new chief executive of the Food Standards Agency, Catherine Brown, tells Joshua Chambers about the pressure her organisation faced when, just after she joined, traces of horsemeat were found in food products.

Alex Ellis has just left his post as the FCO’s director of strategy to become ambassador to Brazil. On his last day in the job, Winnie Agbonlahor learns how he’s tried to encourage greater self-criticism in a department not known for its self-lacerating humility.

A tenant support worker employed by a charity says benefit reforms are causing unnecessary suffering.

New DECC chief Stephen Lovegrove has, to his evident relief, missed all the big battles over the direction of our energy policies – but he does face huge challenges in putting those policies into practice. Matt Ross meets him

Information storage can be complex and costly, not to mention its environmental impact. As Whitehall organisations look for good places to squirrel away their ever-growing mounds of data, Gill Hitchcock sets out the options

The British Library’s vast collection is about to get much bigger. Suzannah Brecknell meets its new chief executive, Roly Keating, to find out how the world’s second largest library is reinventing itself for the digital age

Government must plan ahead for long-term social, economic and environmental change, so it employs ‘horizon scanners’ to predict likely scenarios. Joshua Chambers looks at what the future holds for this unusual profession.