Economy

Philip Rutnam

Permanent Secretary, Department for Transport

Dr Malcolm McKibbin

Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service

Permanent Secretary of Welsh Government

Lin Homer

Chief Executive, HM Revenue and Customs

Robert Devereux

Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions

Martin Donnelly

Permanent Secretary, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Simon Fraser

Permanent Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The lack of a senior responsible owner for the West Coast Rail franchise project was the “biggest problem” behind the failure of the bidding process, Sam Laidlaw told the House of Commons Transport Committee yesterday.

The sale of Ministry of Defence (MoD) radio frequences could raise £1bn, the Financial Times reported this week. Two radio bands are being sold, with two industry experts telling the newspaper that each is likely to net £4-500m.

The Welsh Government has entered into negotiations to nationalise Cardiff Airport, first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, announced yesterday.

The government has repeatedly come a cropper when outsourcing work, but the number of outsourced projects is only going to grow. Mark Smulian attends a round table on how the civil service can become a shrewder customer

A new Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is to become fully operational in April 2014, under plans to merge the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission.

A further £22bn in spending cuts or tax rises will be required in the period of the next spending review to 2017-18 if the government is to achieve its goal of eradicating the structural deficit, new analysis says.

The UK’s postcode address database should be released for free use by private companies, the chief executive of the new Open Data Institute (ODI) has told CSW.

Local authorities could have planning powers taken away if they perform poorly, Bob Kerslake, the permanent secretary of the Department for Communities and Local Government and head of the civil service, confirmed on Monday.

Efforts by the Treasury to incorporate long-term analyses into its budgetary calculations are being hampered by the political calculations of successive governments, Nick Macpherson, permanent secretary at HM Treasury, said on Monday.

To ensure greater international competitiveness and help boost Britain’s economy in the long term, the Treasury is prioritising investment in infrastructure. Colin Marrs appraises the government’s efforts

The government is eager to increase the amount of goods and services it buys from small and medium-sized enterprises. Mark Smulian attends a round table on the opportunities, the challenges – and the solutions

Over the past three decades, no government has been able to achieve reductions in the administrative costs of central government equal to those proposed by the coalition, a report from Oxford University said earlier this month.

The new head of the Welsh Civil Service, Derek Jones, will take up his position on 8 October after a four year hiatus from the civil service. He replaces Dame Gillian Morgan, who retired in August. Jones was the director of business and partnerships at Cardiff University, and prior to this role he spent 30 years as a civil servant, including as a senior director.

Twice before, the Public Administration Select Committee has called for reforms to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments – but to little avail. Now it’s having another go: Colin Marrs reports on its latest assault.

HMRC should introduce a deliberate error into the taxation system so that it overclaims taxes and has to repay them at the end of the year, Dr David Halpern, the head of the government’s Behavioural Insights Team, has suggested.

Suppliers are interested in low-carbon goods and services, but doubts over demand limit investment. Becky Slack examines carbon compacts, which demonstrate that customers really are hungry for eco-friendly supplies

The coalition promises more public contracts for small businesses – but we’ve heard this language before, without seeing much in the way of results. Becky Slack meets the man tasked with turning rhetoric into reality