Economy

Cornerstone provide advice on effective approaches for learning management.

Government spending on outsourcing contracts rose by 23% to £1.2bn between 2012 and 2013, bringing the two-year total to £2.3bn, while expenditure in most other sectors fell by between 1% and 20%, according to analysis of public sector transactions carried out by the Institute for Government (IfG).

Once small and cohesive, today’s cities, including those in the UK, have become large and complex entities. In fact, London, despite being the smallest region in terms of area, occupying 1,600 square kilometres (sq km), less than 1% of the total area of the UK, has a population of over 8 million. This is a larger population today than all but the top four countries at the turn of the last century. So, with this being the case, how can governments maintain meaningful engagement with citizens, businesses, employees and other agencies?

Once, civil servants hacked away at unfashionable railways in favour of cars and aeroplanes – but now trains are once again seen as transports of the future. Joshua Chambers meets High Speed 2 chief executive Alison Munro

Garden cities have long been a fertile idea in public policy. First planned over a century ago, they flowered in Hertfordshire in the ‘20s – and now this perennial concept is set to bear fruit once again. Colin Marrs reports

Highways Agency chief Graham Dalton is wrong to argue that his organisation should become a company, argues Mark Dollar

Highways Agency chief executive Graham Dalton is leading his organisation out of the civil service for a new life as a government-owned company. He tells Joshua Chambers why he can’t wait to escape Whitehall’s stifling rules

Sir Nicholas Macpherson, the Treasury permanent secretary, has told MPs that he decided to publish his advice warning the chancellor against a currency union with an independent Scotland because it was “vital to the national interest”.

New DVLA chief Oliver Morley has arrived in the wake of a major review of the transport department agency, and will soon be joined by a new chair. Suzannah Brecknell learns that the scene is set for a transformation project

Two departments will pilot new pay rules which give them greater flexibility in spending their pay budget, the Budget announced today.

Government contracts should be audited by the National Audit Office (NAO) to improve transparency about public service outsourcing, business organisation the CBI has said.

Extreme rain, storms and tides have combined to overwhelm our flood defences – but defences can only ever be a backstop. Stuart Watson explores how public agencies could work together to minimise the danger of floods.