Security review calls for “comprehensive and comprehensible new law” to govern security agencies’ surveillance powers

Independent Commission for Aid Impact says DfID’s aid measurement focuses too much on short term financial results over long term ‘transformative change’

Acting Labour leader Harriet Harman sides with Tory backbenchers in row over waiving neutrality for machinery of government in the run-up to the EU vote

Philip Hammond says campaigning to stay in a reformed Europe is "clear" government position

Policy-makers around the world are using open data to bolster their development programmes, says Liz Carolan of the Open Data Institute

Foreign Office announces that its permanent secretary Simon Fraser is to leave Whitehall at the end of July

Lord Kerslake tells the Financial Times pressure on other budgets could be made "more acute" by protection of defence spending

As winners of the Analysis and Use of Evidence Award at the 2014 Civil Service Awards, DfID’s Humanitarian Innovation and Evidence Programme is at the forefront of Whitehall’s shift towards evidence-based policy. Sarah Aston meets team leader Dr Joanna Macrae

Report by MPs on the Defence Committee says UK must be prepared to deal with both 'unconventional and conventional threats'

Former environment secretary set to pressure government over Ministry of Defence budget, while defence secretary Michael Fallon says he will be 'fighting' against MoD cuts

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee warn commercial skills gap at Defence Equipment and Support will undermine MoD efforts to reduce costs if not addressed

With the defence budget becoming ever more contentious, the MoD’s permanent secretary Jon Thompson must continue to balance spending decisions with national security. It’s a tough job – but one he’s privileged to do, he tells Jess Bowie. Photos by Paul Heartfield