Economics

The UK ran a surplus of just £1bn last month – £200m lower than July 2015

Tax experts and industry bodies urge rethink on plans to make public sector bodies, not contractors themselves, responsible for applying rules known as “IR35”

More than 40 staff unable to relocate or who turned down voluntary exit could be made redundant under first round of estate downsizing

2,500 staff set to relocate to town-centre office block from summer 2017

Caroline Normand set to join Which?, while other moves see the government name Lowell Goddard’s abuse inquiry replacement and Charlie Bean lined up for the Budget Responsibility Committee

MPs call on Department for Communities and Local Government, Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Education to develop new inclusion programmes particularly targeting women

Policy Exchange proposes “turbo charged” devolution of Whitehall functions to councils and city regions over the next five years

The big leadership changes in government digital seem like a triumph for those who believe a government organised along Victorian lines is still fit for fixing today’s problems, argues former senior civil servant Andrew Greenway

The Land Registry "must remain an essential arm of the state", says Conservative committee chair Bernard Jenkin, amid doubts over whether the government's privatisation plans will go ahead

Think tank calls for stronger sector-wide systems to support and learn from failing organisations

Former Scottish government and DCLG perm sec says public sector workforce has a "subsidiary and problematic status" in variants of the New Public Management model in vogue with politicians since Margaret Thatcher

26% of competitions overseen by Whitehall's jobs watchdog saw private sector candidates appointed in 2015-16, new data show