Civil Service Reform

A review of process and structures in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) calls for a “technological overhaul”, stronger leadership of cross-government work overseas, and an end to dependence on email

Government Digital Service chief Stephen Foreshew-Cain tells CSW that officials with digital, data and technology skills could sit outside of the civil service grading system in a bid to attract and retain staff

MPs say they will call on the National Audit Office to probe BIS's figures ahead of key meeting on future of its Sheffield site

Specialist union's formal response to Cabinet Office's planned shake-up of Civil Service Compensation Scheme warns of impact on workforce management – and raises prospect of industrial action

The dearth of top female leaders shows that Whitehall must not get complacent on gender equality

Study by Tech UK and Dods Research finds gap between vision and reality on departments' digital transformation plans

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee chair Bernard Jenkin says legislation may be needed to make non-executive directors brought into government feel less disposable

Home Office chief points out that enforcement rate for confiscation orders is increasing, even as overall debt pile grows, while Derbyshire police chief Mick Creedon points the finger at legacy of “inflated” targets

Spending watchdog to take its first detailed look at the central government procurement agency

Experienced rehabilitation charities say they have been left disadvantaged by the bidding process for the Ministry of Justice's probation overhaul

Resolution Foundation report says welfare shake-up has "genuine potential" but could be less effective because of cost-cutting

Open Data Barometer finds that the UK government is still top for releasing open data – but France, Canada and Mexico are snapping at its heels

PCS study of almost 25,000 civil servants, including managers, finds widespread concern about the way performance management is working in practice

New body to be set up amid concerns over the use of big data, with Cabinet Office also drawing up new framework for government data science

Cabinet Office review prompts fresh distinctions between executive agencies (EAs), non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and non-ministerial departments (NMDs)

National Audit Office says probation services "have been sustained throughout a period of major changes" – but warns of "unsurprising frictions" between private and public sector staff

BIS perm sec seeks to justify closure of Sheffield site, and says departmental cuts will mean reducing headcount by 30%-40% "over time"

Cabinet Office minister says distributed ledgers could offer a "better way" of monitoring the distribution of government cash

Former chief of defence materiel, who left the civil service at the end of 2015, to carry out progress review for the MoD on equipment buying

Open data organisation co-founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee says proposed model for the privately-owned Land Registry "appears very similar to historic examples of long-term outsourcing deals and risks repeating the same mistakes"

Two new proposed tenders aim to simplify mobile working through use of the cloud

Online payments firm Stripe – which handles payments for Kickstarter – among those chosen in revamped approach to government merchant services

Union's deputy general secretary says 1% average pay rise cap is "not sustainable", after government gives departments more freedom to reward "outstanding" senior officials

Donnelly says department is spending £168,000 a year on putting Sheffield and London staff up in hotels – but local MP Paul Blomfield says the BIS perm sec's latest answers give only a "half truth"