Economics

Internal appointments come ahead of expansion of the public spending watchdog’s remit

PCS union points out that staffing costs make up a big chunk of departmental spending, and called on Philip Hammond to ditch George Osborne's extra cuts

House of Lords committee puts HMRC officials through their paces

Ex-Treasury perm sec challenges David Davis's claims about the civil service's readiness for Brexit, as his former colleague Lord O'Donnell warns of major task presented by Great Repeal Bill

COO, who can expect to earn up to £140,000, set to take a lead on new Brexit-focused department's HR, finance and estates strategy

Tax collection agency beats target by 400,000 users months ahead of self-imposed deadline

Departmental data release breaks down £583m spend on foreign outposts during 2015-16

Report claims Sir Jeremy Heywood secured extra £250m for health service with ultimatum

Department says it is "committed to Verify as the single identification service for individuals and is fully focused on delivering this", amid questions over its use of an alternative to the Cabinet Office-backed platform

Government rejects think tank's calculations which suggest the UK missed target to spend 2% of GDP on defence thanks to unexpectedly strong economic growth

HMRC programme director Mike Howes-Roberts calls for "honest and candid dialogue" with other departments as he confirms tax authority will not make full use of much-heralded GDS platform

Peter Riddell calls for stronger diversity monitoring rules, as government plans a “stock take” of gender balance across public boards