Economy

Tom Walker – who heads cross-government cities and local growth team – hails "ever closer integration" and close support of the Treasury as ministers press ahead with devolution drive

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