Justice & Home Affairs

Ahead of the State Opening of Parliament, think tank says slim Commons majority and tough Spending Review settlements mean government would be wise to focus on key priorities 

Report by MPs on the justice committee warns that prison safety "has deteriorated further and continues to do so"

Justice secretary Michael Gove says improvement board report highlights “broader problems” with the youth justice system

Interim chief Martin Jones has position made permanent

Ministry of Justice says it will announce "next steps in due course" amid reports Medway Secure Training Centre to be brought into public control

Home Office chief points out that enforcement rate for confiscation orders is increasing, even as overall debt pile grows, while Derbyshire police chief Mick Creedon points the finger at legacy of “inflated” targets

Experienced rehabilitation charities say they have been left disadvantaged by the bidding process for the Ministry of Justice's probation overhaul

National Audit Office says probation services "have been sustained throughout a period of major changes" – but warns of "unsurprising frictions" between private and public sector staff

The government's vision of autonomous prisons held to account for delivering against defined outcomes is welcome – but it will require a step change in the way performance is measured

Microsoft reviews the technology that can help police officers perform their jobs more effectively

Unions welcomed Court of Appeal decision backing 2015 ruling that amendments to DfT's staff handbook were unlawful

Border Force resource budget will be £558.1m for 2016/17 – a cut of 0.4% on last year – but the agency gets a capital spending boost

Theresa May writes to the Home Affairs Committee chair over Border Force budget, after MPs order second permanent secretary Olly Robbins to face a second evidence session

Home Office permanent secretary Mark Sedwill to face second Public Accounts Committee hearing after PAC chair Meg Hillier brands department's disagreement with the National Audit Office a "farce"

Criminal Justice Joint Inspection report highlights "significant progress" needed on digital overhaul of the justice system – with continued manual entry and lack of join-up

Home Affairs select committee demands department’s second permanent secretary returns to answer Border Force budget questions

Director general Mary Calam to leave civil service after more than two decades, with Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism's Paul Lincoln taking on the job

MPs says there is concern over FCO's focus in spite of boost for human rights spending – but the department says human rights will "always be a central part of our diplomacy"

Jane Marriott, previously director for the Middle East and North Africa at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, is to head up a new counter-terror unit

Government Outcomes Lab being set up in partnership with Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government​ in a bid to assess the impact of outcome-based commissioning ​schemes

Budget document emphasises plan to "move civil servants out of expensive Whitehall accommodation", with Ministry of Justice looking to set up "centres of expertise outside the capital"

"We take all allegations of impropriety extremely seriously," says justice minister Andrew Selous

Burns Commission on Freedom of Information sides against charges for FOI requests, but calls for greater clarity on protecting policy-making

Public pending watchdog finds delays in the justice system because of “basic avoidable mistakes” and says reform alone will not tackle all “causes of inefficiency"