News

Parliamentary efforts to hold government more closely to account include reforming how British intelligence agencies are overseen. Joshua Chambers reports on a committee walking the line between light and shade

Squeezed between declining rainfall and a growing population, water supply is a growing environmental challenge. Stuart Watson examines how departments can increase their water-efficiency before supplies dry up

The former chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, Sir Richard Mottram, has come out against the idea that the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) could hold public hearings with the heads of Britain’s intelligence agencies.

Good ideas on policymaking meet risky ones on accountability

Central departments must communicate better with councils, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said in a report published today.

Senior civil servants’ career progression should be tied to their efforts to reform the civil service, the Institute for Government (IfG) has said in a report published this week.

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Ministers are poorly placed to ensure that their special advisers do not breach codes of conduct, the chair of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) suggested yesterday.

Two government departments are preparing to publish “choice frameworks” enshrining people’s rights to make key decisions over the public services they receive, the official leading the ‘open public services’ agenda has told CSW.

The new set of business plans show that government departments completed 90 per cent of the “reform actions” planned for the 12 months to June 2012, according to the Cabinet Office. But changes to the plans’ format mean that in future the government will report less frequently on progress against deadlines, while some targets are to be sidelined in annexes to the business plans.

Since last year, the PM and DPM have been noisily pushing for the rapid implementation of coalition policies. Matt Ross meets Will Cavendish, whose job it is to chivvy departments into delivering on the government’s promises

Over half of all civil servants do not believe that their skills are being fully utilised, according to exclusive research conducted by CSW.

If only they’d do the same with elected police commissioners

Despite the rhetoric, government has failed to engage with the charity sector. Just look at the Work Programme, says Stephen Bubb

The Department of Health’s new information strategy sets out plans to standardise data collection in NHS bodies, and to share and use it more effectively. Colin Marrs examines a trailblazer for the open data agenda

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Three ground-breaking ‘carbon compacts’ have been signed, bringing together the spending power of departments and private businesses in a bid to push suppliers into cutting carbon emissions.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) failed to plan out the skills it will need in the long term before cutting its civilian and military workforces, according a report published by the Public Accounts Committee on Friday.