Economics

Advance sight of a Cabinet Office review into the civil service's LGBT record, another SNP-Whitehall fracas, and feverish Budget speculation make our regular round-up of Whitehall in the headlines

Public Administration Select Committee urges greater role for Cabinet Office in planning for the future and ending departmental duplication

George Osborne wants to sell the Government's stake in RBS "as quickly as we can" after the general election.

Former NAO director Mark Babington joins Financial Reporting Council 

New HMT and Cabinet Office plan to highlight UK taxpayer funding sparks SNP attack

According to a spokesperson, David Cameron will not pursue an inquiry into HMRC’s handling of HSBC tax files 

Nicholas Macpherson says economic and financial functions should both remain in the Treasury

Chancellor George Osborne has re-appointed two external members of the Bank of England’s finance committee

Michael Izza, chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), gives an outside perspective of the civil service

Stephen Ibbotson, director of business at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), offers his peers in the finance profession a view from outside government

The government plan to invest £15bn in the ‘Road investment strategy’ over the next six years, the transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin (pictured) and chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander announced this morning.

The Civil Service Club (CSC) could be sold off under Labour to help “pay down the national debt”, Labour announced this week. 

The department response to the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) has been inconsistent, despite the initiatives potential to help government rebalance the economy by harnessing new technology and creative individuals, said the Centre for Business Research (CBR) at the University of Cambridge in a report published yesterday.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) launched the Global Fraud Risk Register, its new global initiative for tackling fraud across the public sector.

The government should introduce five-year spending plans and independent assessments of its infrastructure plans, former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell told an audience at the Royal Statistical Society last month. 

Andy Samuel has been appointed as the chief executive of the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).

Greater Manchester will gain significant decision-making powers from Whitehall after chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne and leaders of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) signed a devolution agreement today. 

Finance professionals across government should “get on the front foot” and make sure they’re involved in the policymaking process, the government’s new director-general of public spending, Julian Kelly, has said.

Tens of thousands joined the Trades Union Congress (TUC) organised march that took place in major cities across the UK on Saturday, 18 October to protest against pay conditions. 

Government spending on outsourcing contracts rose by 23% to £1.2bn between 2012 and 2013, bringing the two-year total to £2.3bn, while expenditure in most other sectors fell by between 1% and 20%, according to analysis of public sector transactions carried out by the Institute for Government (IfG).