Analysis

The government's customer service must better suit user needs, according to a CSW webchat

Lord Levene hails a ‘sea change’ at the MoD

The chancellor of the exchequer’s final Autumn Statement of this Parliament provided an update on the government's economic plans. Our sister service, Dods Monitoring, analysed the Statement sector by sector. 

Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne is due to give his Autumn Statement today (Wednesday 3 December) at 12:30pm. So what can be expected?

Audrey Collins, a record specialist at The National Archives, looks back at the impact of the First World War on the civil service

Former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell has spoken up for evidence-based policymaking – an approach often distorted by poor data or trumped by anecdotes

Cabinet Office digital director Mike Bracken and Open Data Institute chairman Nigel Shadbolt said that there is still more to do if the government, and UK, want to share and access meaningful open data, at the ODI’s 2014 summit on open innovation on 4, November.

A survey of MPs reveals a party divide over the decision to hire a businessperson as the new civil service chief.

CSW takes a look at the ins and outs of the Local Government (Independence) Bill 2014 - 2015

The Defence Select Committee chair has criticised the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) prioritising management skills over local expertise in its overseas staff, and expressed scepticism over the UK’s approach to developing strategy. 

On 27 March, Lucy Powell MP asked 21 departments to explain: what proportion of civil servants, of each sex and grade, work part-time.

In the first of a series of articles examining digital services, Tim Gibson explains online voter registration – a new IT system lying at the very heart of our democracy.

Winnie Agbonlahor hears business department perm sec Martin Donnelly explain the value of ‘positive neutrality’ 

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

The UK Border Agency (UKBA), which was this year abolished by home secretary Theresa May, was “never going to work”, its former chief Rob Whiteman told the Public Administration Select Committee on 17 June.

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​.

‘Forced ranking’ is alienating those sympathetic to reform

The government’s ambitious service reform plans effectively ignore digital exclusion, argues Labour front-bencher Chi Onwurah

The lack of a diversity strategy speaks volumes

The long-term impact of a changing climate is cruelly revealing the weaknesses in our government structures, argues Will Day

Select committees are set to broaden the debate, argues Professor Patrick Dunleavy of the London School of Economics.

Sharing sterling would threaten both Scotland and the rump UK

We need to rethink education – and the DfE’s response to constructive critics, says David Bell