Economy

Iconic Whitehall building sold as part of MoD plans to make estate savings. Department says it will be "sympathetically restored, redeveloped and re-imagined as a high quality hotel and residential apartments"

Cabinet secretary tells the public administration and constitutional affairs select committee that "nobody's having any difficulty with my guidance on the ground", as eurosceptics hit out at curbs on civil service support for ministers in favour of Britain leaving the European Union

Treasury perm sec Nick Macpherson says incoming HMRC chief exec Thompson will focus on "spending the money", while executive chair Edward Troup will oversee "strategic, policy and reputational leadership" of the tax authority

Interviews for the top Treasury job get going this week – as Macpherson jokes process could "go into a black hole for many months"

Senior Tory says Treasury should take the lead on official stats as Cabinet Office and UK Statistics Authority "have been asleep at the wheel"

Cabinet secretary will be questioned by the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on Tuesday, after ministers in favour of leaving the EU question guidance on use of official resources

Lord Kerslake says it is “impossible to see why any fair person would want to remove this very basic service” - and vows to "sing the national anthem" if the government shelves plans to end automatic "check off" of fees from civil servants' pay packets

Cabinet office minister Matt Hancock says the ONS - which moved out of London in the mid-2000s - will stay in Newport to to act as a "big data hub" in the region

Thompson to succeed Lin Homer as chief executive, while tax specialist Edward Troup to chair the board's executive committee

Public Accounts Committee criticises lack of transparency over HM Revenue and Customs' £130m, ten-year tax deal with Google – but says department has taken "a step in the right direction" in pledging reform of penalty regime

The legal team at the government-owned British Business Bank has brought together public and private sector expertise to create a new organisation with a challenging mandate – to boost lending to thousands of small and medium-sized businesses. Shanika Amarasekara, general counsel for the bank, shares her team's experience 

National Audit Office report says Cabinet Office's Fraud, Error and Debt team is "growing into a centre of expertise" – but warns departmental data is "often variable and not sufficient" to keep tabs on the true scale of public sector fraud

Powerful Economic and Domestic Secretariat to get a new deputy director to help departments focus on longer-term trends and the impact of technology

Treasury committee says 2014 intervention by then-chief secretary Danny Alexander “gives the appearance of a minister trying to lean on the OBR”

Why did George Osborne and his officials not admit that the tax system is not fit for purpose in 21st century Britain?

English devolution is a journey without a clear destination – producing a long overdue rebalancing of power, but within continuing tight financial constraints

Over the last decade the civil service has managed significant reductions in headcount. Why place all of this in jeopardy?

MP Meg Hillier tells CSW that public confidence in the way HM Revenue and Customs reaches settlement deals with large corporations will be an issue until there is greater transparency

HMRC chief executive Dame Lin Homer has told members of the Public Accounts Committee that civil servants should be proud of progress in tackling tax avoidance on the part of large companies

90% of business department's sites to close under BIS 2020 programme, says Sajid Javid, as Martin Donnelly calls decision to shut Sheffield office "one of the most difficult" of his career

Former Cabinet Office minister leaving trade post "pretty soon" to take on private sector and not-for-profit roles

Crossrail, the capital’s new east-west rail link, is on track to open on time and on budget. As well as being a boon for commuters, it could also improve the UK’s reputation for delivering major infrastructure projects. Colin Marrs digs around for some lessons

Institute for Fiscal Studies warns that “very inflexible” fiscal target could "come at a cost", while rising demand for services and public sector employment costs will make implementing cuts harder

The anticipated decision to give Amazon director Douglas Gurr a non-executive role at the Department for Work and Pensions has been attacked because of the firm’s tax record