Civil Service Reform

As the government's chief scientist says Blockchain technology could "revolutionise services", Jeni Tennison of the Open Data Institute examines some of the benefits to the public sector in taking a leaf out of Bitcoin's book

Majority of departments will be asked to create new apprenticeships equivalent to 2.3% of their overall staffing levels, BIS confirms

Most officials will be aware of cases where “perverse incentives” hamper better service delivery. Joshua Chambers takes a global view of how corporate cannibalism and bare-faced theft can be a recipe for success

 Head of the Government Property Unit challenges departments to test themselves against newly-launched smart working code of practice

Home Office named "Star Performer" for treatment of LGBT staff – and will now offer advice to other organisations

Four years on from a major overhaul of Whitehall’s learning and development programme, Civil Service Learning is embarking on another big shake-up. Matt Foster sits down with CSL director Hilary Spencer to discuss what “phase two” will mean for officials

Chief executive of the Infrastructure and Projects Watchdog seeks to reassure MPs after merger with Treasury unit – and John Manzoni says new organisation will have more "teeth"

As Lords Committee looks into whether Scotland needs a separate civil service, former Cabinet secretary Lord O'Donnell says London house prices "seriously damage mobility" between Whitehall and the rest of the UK

Report by MPs says Eurostar sale was managed well but that government used "over cautious assumptions" and should do more to build in-house corporate finance knowledge

Project "Ocean Liner" reportedly mulls insourcing and says there is "no consistent advice" for dealing with IT challenges across government

DfE's Wormald to take on top job at the Department of Health from April

Tax authority's chief executive Dame Lin Homer is grilled on plans to cut HMRC's office network from 170 smaller offices to 13 regional centres

New report by the National Audit Office spending watchdog finds that while departmental spending on consultants and temporary staff has plummeted over last five years, latest figures indicate a “short-term reduction rather than a sustainable strategy”

Government Digital Service prepares to roll out text, email and letter notification service for citizens in bid to cut inbound calls

HM Revenue and Customs boss is leaving the civil service later this year – and vows to carefully consider "appropriateness of potential roles and organisations" for life after Whitehall

The MoD is set to bring its civilian HR, finance, information and security vetting corporate services back in house from April

Proposals to allow changes to pay and terms for specialists being finalised for the new financial year, it is understood, amid claims salaries could top £300,000

Institute for Government analysis of People Survey data shows "strong and improving" trajectory for fostering an ideas culture

National Audit Office raises concerns over the number of transformation projects government is undertaking, as report notes that over a third of major projects due to be delivered this Parliament may be unachievable

Emergency services will be encouraged to share back office functions under plans outlined by the Home Office

Labour’s new commission – led by the former head of the civil service – can learn a host of lessons from previous bids to wrest power from the chancellor, says our columnist Sue Cameron

Police and the FCO may have got off more lightly than feared at November’s Spending Review, but many other departments face a substantial real-terms squeeze over the next four years

Special report: The civil service is getting happier, according to its most recent People Survey. Suzannah Brecknell explores what else the survey tells us about change and engagement across government

With the end of 2015 in sight, we asked Whitehall's top officials to look back at the year, set out their priorities for 2016 – and shed some light on their festive plans...