Leadership

John Hirst, chief executive of the Met Office, is leaving the civil service in September after seven years in the role.

Too many organisational cultures push clever people into doing daft things. The solutions start at the top.

As the search begins for a new head of the civil service, read the last interview by incumbent Sir Bob Kerslake – interviewed with the new titular head of the civil service Sir Jeremy Heywood. Words by Matt Ross; picture by Mark Weeks

The Cabinet Office has made clear that its new chief executive will require substantial experience as a top business person, ruling out the vast majority of serving civil servants.

Sir David Nicholson was appointed chief executive of the NHS in 2006. He retained his position after the coalition came to power and pursued a set of reforms so big, he said, that you could probably see them from space.

Sir Philip Dilley has been confirmed as the new chairman of the Environment Agency, and will take up the post on 8 September 2014.

John Pullinger has this month started his new job as the UK’s new national statistician. He tells Winnie Agbonlahor about his priorities in the role.

Top New Zealand official Iain Rennie is reforming a system often lauded in the UK. Suzannah Brecknell reports

A whip round June's interesting committee reports and hearings, with Winnie Agbonlahor

The government has found cross-departmental working more “problematic” than improving coordination at the centre, cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on 7 July.​

An official responsible for an IT contracting error which cost the Ministry of Defence (MoD) £70m is no longer working for the department, its permanent secretary Jon Thompson told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on 16 June​.

Sir Bob Kerslake spoke of his commitment to public service today, as he told an audience of civil servants about his retirement next year.

Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg today told an audience of civil servants that ministers have a “duty to acknowledge and respect your role as the backbone of the public infrastructure, that has to survive the ebb and flow as governments come and go.”

Former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell has welcomed the government’s plan to recombine the jobs of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, telling Radio 4’s Today programme this morning that “having one person doing both jobs is a big step forward.”

Sir Bob Kerslake (pictured) is stepping down from his role as head of the civil service in the autumn, and is to retire as permanent secretary of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) at the end of February 2015, it has been announced today.

ID Logistics strengthens the performance of its teams in France and globally by using a SaaS-based Learning and Talent Management solution

Everyone loves a good spreadsheet. But if you have more than a few hundred employees, tracking performance, training, and succession with them is the stuff of nightmares. Spreadsheets and paper-based processes can’t give you deep, real-time insight into how your employees are performing or how to make them—and your company—more successful. But a talent management system can. Our clients shared their reasons for making the switch from spreadsheet to software. Which one tops your list?

The former UK Border Agency (UKBA) was doomed to fail due to its sheer scale and constant media attention, its former chief executive Rob Whiteman has said.

This newspaper was established as Whitehall & Westminster World in 2004; and since I became editor six years ago, we’ve published about two million words on events in the civil service. There has been an awful lot to write about. The first coalition and the biggest recession in decades have presented huge policy challenges; sweeping budget cuts have prompted major organisational and personnel reforms; and changes in communications, working practices and service delivery have crystalised into civil service-wide agendas such as digital by default and open data. 

Sir Jonathan Stephens has moved to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) to take up his new job as permanent secretary. 

The head of Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government is a fan of the British civil service – but it’s being battered by some heavyweight global forces, she says, and must learn a new fighting style. Matt Ross meets her

An inquiry needs to be held into the political process and the flaws in our system of government, two former cabinet secretaries have told Civil Service World. Their call comes after some politicians and other key figures have called for an inquiry into the future of the civil service.

In recent times, new delivery challenges and rising tensions between officials and politicians have led to calls for an inquiry into the civil service. Joshua Chambers asks how Whitehall can ensure it has the right tools for the job 

The international development department does great work, says Diana Good – but must improve staff training in order to get better still