Commercial

Infrastructure and Projects Authority says strong public sector involvement coupled with move away from traditional government structures has been a important factor in the success of capital projects like London 2012 and Crossrail

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

PAC says "encouraging signs of change" on the commercial front – but urges Cabinet Office to do more to chase up departments who are failing to make progress

Cabinet Office's Warren Smith wants service to become the first port of call for procurement

PAC report casts doubt on ability of beefed-up major projects watchdog to scrutinise government’s biggest schemes, and calls on Cabinet Office to explain how it will meet skills shortages needed for "transformation"

Review says Department for Transport must do more to shape the future development of the nation's rail infrastructure

CCS chief Collier says independence of exams watchdog Ofqual "one of the attractions" of taking on chief regulator role – and says procurement background no barrier to doing the job

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

Former chief executive of hygiene services firm PHS Group brought in to lead civil service commercial profession

Spending watchdog questions the government’s claims on SME spending, and urges departments to make sure that initiatives to improve commercial capability do not undermine attempts to support small companies

CCS sets out thinking behind replacement of Payroll, Human Resources (HR) and Finance Managed Services (PHRF) framework