Leadership

A lack of clarity on pre-election rules are causing officials to “do things on the sly for ministers”, according to the Institute for Government (IfG), which has this week published a report into the final year of the coalition government.

Leadership of change and management information are the top cross-government priorities for improving capabilities, the government’s 11 published departmental improvement plans (DIPs) reveal.

The Ministry of Defence’s Defence, Equipment and Support (DE&S) division was this month turned into an arm’s-length body and given an exemption from Treasury salary controls and civil service-wide promotion criteria.

The Civil Service Commission won’t reform the appointment process for permanent secretaries without the backing of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC), first civil service commissioner Sir David Normington has told CSW.

Given the rhetoric surrounding the shift to the modern workplace and the importance of centring technology around the users rather than the producers, why has progress stagnated?

How can organisations allow employees to use their own devices to access corporate information securely, within parameters set by management?

AECOM’s Associate Director of Sustainability, Michael Henderson, considers the environmental and economic benefits of effective water management in urban areas.

Sir Paul Jenkins has spent his time as Treasury solicitor creating a shared legal service, and tackling discrimination. As this very unusual barrister retires, he gives Matt Ross his final, divergent verdicts on the progress in both fields

The Public Accounts Committee chair sits right at the heart of Westminster, with the power to examine public spending across government. But as Margaret Hodge tells Matt Ross, she’s always felt like an outsider

Universal Credit has been stymied by confused accountability and a “very, very poor set of decisions,” Public Accounts Committee chair Margaret Hodge has told CSW.

The prime minister should be able to pick permanent secretaries from a list of good candidates, argues Guy Lodge of the IPPR

Even small constitutional changes can have big implications