Communications

First woman to serve as the PM's spokesperson is heading to the Foreign Office

Department for Exiting the European Union department offers up to £90,000 for candidate with “exceptional judgement” tasked with delivering a “coherent narrative”

New Government Digital Service research reveals that 73% of online content is looked at by fewer than 10 people a month

"Anyone found to have leaked sensitive information will be dismissed even where there is no compromise of national security," Heywood tells departmental chiefs

With the end of 2016 fast approaching, we asked the UK's top civil servants to look back at the year, outline their goals for 2017 – and shed some light on their festive favourites. This list will be updated throughout December, so check back regularly!

MP calls for further investigation into a contract between UKTI and a consultancy firm which was cancelled after officials raised concerns over invoicing

Extra training for communications staff comes after stats watchdog said the DfE had tweeted a "misleading" claim on grammar schools

Singleton has been director of newsgathering for the broadcaster since 2013

GDS's Persis Howe says it is "​jarring to hear the wrong words" when visually impaired people access government websites with screen readers

New prime minister brings former Home Office Spads Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy back to the fold

Royal Statistical Society praises Transport department for "honest" and "innovative" presentation of official statistics

Tom Scholar rejects suggestion referendum preparations were weak and focused on securing a “Remain” result – but confirms existence of civil service-wide resource review

University College London academics spearhead drive for independent inquiry into both sides’ “misinformation” and “outright falsehood”

The environment department’s top official calls on staff to confide in each other as a way of boosting morale in one of the government’s unhappiest departments

Politicians are fond of bandying around statistics to boost their arguments – but how much of what they say is informed by facts? Suzannah Brecknell meets Full Fact director Will Moy who explains his mission to rid public debate of “nonsense”

Statistics show the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s consular service took around half a million calls over the past 12 months, some of them far from genuine emergencies

DfID’s Angela Balakrishnan tells Max Goldbart how cross-government working and innovative content helped to keep the public informed at the height of the Ebola outbreak

Former Times health editor on the move to BIS

Department for Work and Pensions' Mayank Prakash tells Public Sector ICT Summit: “Before I can talk to a person they tell me what grade they are – and I struggle with it"

Peter Wilkinson, director of rail passenger services at the DfT, comes under fire after reportedly telling commuters they had "got to break" industrial action over changes to train drivers' terms

IPSOS Mori research finds four-point rise in those who trust civil servants to tell the truth — and strong trust among "Generation Y"

A new colleague-to-colleague counselling service has been created at the Cabinet Office in a bid to fill gaps in current help and support provision

Bankers Fields Wicker-Miurin and Neil Mendoza set to join department

With the end of 2015 in sight, we asked Whitehall's top officials to look back at the year, set out their priorities for 2016 – and shed some light on their festive plans...