Professions

The latest news by profession from inside the Civil Service World

Analysis All

21 Oct Analysis

‘The opportunity to have organisations of all types publishing data to common standards is really exciting’: why stats regulators' new award matters

The first ever award to recognise the voluntary application of the Office for Statistics Regulation code has been awarded jointly to MHCLG and the Scottish Fiscal Commission, with UCAS named highly commended.

11 Mar Analysis

Buried Treasury? What changes to the chancellor’s special advisers mean for officials

Plans to merge the Treasury and No.10 teams of political advisers have led to questions about where power lies in the centre of government. Richard Johnstone seeks answers

Commercial All

14 Oct Commercial

Should a 'More for Less' strategy be the focus for Public Sector Buyers - again?

Could re-using the successful 'More for Less' strategy help public sector buyers focus on suppliers' costs at this challenging time? Proxima investigates

14 Oct Commercial

LISTEN: Government commercial chief Gareth Rhys Williams on the procurement challenges of Covid

The government’s top commercial official speaks to CSW about the pressures, and lessons, from the government’s response to coronavirus

Digital, Data & Technology All

29 Oct Digital, Data & Technology

Cabinet Office publishes employee and supplier personal info in data breach

Improperly redacted contract included names and mobile phone numbers – which remained publicly available four days after department had been notified of breach

26 Oct Digital, Data & Technology

HM Land Registry offers £120k for digital chief to lead transformation

Tech leader will oversee digitisation of platforms and infrastructure upgrades

Operational Delivery All

01 Oct Digital, Data & Technology

DWP to ‘create new digital function’ as BPDTS is brought back in-house

Union says move completes 'full circle' of change for outsourced benefits and pensions technology services

01 Oct Economy

DWP staffing up to prepare for possible four million unemployed, says Coffey

Work and pensions secretary says "I genuinely hope we don't reach that figure, but it's important we are ready to help people"

Fraud, Error Debt & Grants All

08 Sep Coronavirus

HMRC targets furlough fraudsters after up to £3.5bn wrongly paid out via scheme

Perm sec Jim Harra tells MPs the scheme's fraud and error rate "could be between 5% and 10%" of £35.4bn bill

25 Aug Fraud, Error Debt & Grants

Crooks hijack Government Legal Department's phone number

GLD issues warning about enquiry number showing up on calls from fraudsters

HR All

29 Oct HR

GLD offers £180,000 for government's next top lawyer

Recruitment firm to get up to £45,000 to assist in search for Treasury solicitor to succeed Sir Jonathan Jones

26 Oct HR

Latest civil service & public affairs moves — October 26

New appointments in the civil service, UK politics, and public affairs, via our colleagues at Dods People

Legal All

11 Sep Brexit

‘Notwithstanding the breach of international law’: government lawyers told internal market bill within civil service rules

Message from Jonathan Jones – who has resigned over the plans – relays Simon Case’s view to officials

11 Sep Communications

Rycroft reveals revised Twitter guidelines after Home Office’s ‘activist lawyers’ post

Perm sec says additional layers of assurance have been introduced following the tweet, which he previously said ‘should not have been used on an official government channel’

Project Delivery All

25 Sep Economics

Civil Service Fast Stream kicks off recruitment round for over 800 posts

Selection of available jobs includes 244 roles for generalist officials

21 Aug Project Delivery

Shapps launches ‘Acceleration Unit’ to speed up transport infrastructure projects

Move comes as Crossrail bosses reveal line will cost an extra £450m and not open until 2022

Property & Estates All

08 Sep Civil Service Reform

Dave Penman: the government’s return-to-office drive is yet another insult to civil servants

The introduction of targets for officials to get back into departments is gesture politics, says the FDA general secretary, and is likely to fail

11 Aug Operational Delivery

Government’s Edinburgh hub completed

The new office building will eventually house as many as 3,000 civil servants

Communications All

21 Oct Communications

Cummings lockdown trip 'undermined' government's Covid messages, Sedwill says

Sedwill says spad's trip to Durham was a "mistake"

21 Sep Civil Service Reform

Government accused of breaking civil service rules on Harding appointment

Appointing Dido Harding to head up the National Institute for Health Protection is a breach of the civil service code, Labour peers claim

Finance All

21 Oct Economics

Comprehensive Spending Review halted as Treasury prioritises certainty – and reiterates pay restraint warning

Sunak says now is not the time for a full review

29 Sep Coronavirus

IFS calls for another one-year Spending Review as it warns of sharp choices ahead

Think tank says previous government spending forecasts have been rendered ‘obsolete’ by coronavirus

Science & Engineering All

13 Oct Coronavirus

Ministers accused of 'ignoring own advisers' after rejecting SAGE call for 'circuit breaker' lockdown

Scientific advisers called for "immediate action" on 21 September, minutes show

03 Sep Science & Engineering

BEIS job market review to inform pay framework for civil service scientists

Review of pay for specialist scientists and engineers outside government will help build business case for future GSE profession reward framework

Policy All

20 Oct Coronavirus

Interview: UK national statistician on how data has helped government – and the public – in coronavirus response

To mark World Statistics Day, Professor Sir Ian Diamond reveals how the work of statisticians has been crucial in supporting government’s pandemic response, as well as his thoughts on the media and politicians’ use of numbers

28 Sep Digital, Data & Technology

DCMS names telecoms diversification task force after Huawei ban

A selection of telecoms executives and academics will help deliver a strategy to be published later this year

Energy & Environment All

07 Jul Coronavirus

Rishi Sunak promises ‘eco-friendly economic recovery’ with £3bn injection for green jobs

Environmental groups say plans fall short of what was needed to create jobs in response to the coronavirus outbreak and tackle the climate crisis.

09 Apr Energy & Environment

Sedwill salutes ‘unparalleled’ efforts of civil servants

Cabinet secretary also encourages departmental staff to make time to relax – safely – over the Easter weekend