Finance

MPs highlight that workforce planning in Whitehall only gives “high-level view” of staffing requirements

Cridland Review dubs guaranteed 2.5% annual rise unaffordable and calls for acceleration of retirement age to 68 sooner than scheduled

Government will be in listening mode once new city region mayors are in place, says growth unit boss

Auditor general says he has support for plan from Whitehall permanent secretaries

Think tank argues chancellor’s bungled budget fundraiser makes case for better policymaking

National Audit Office says department’s attempts to address delays have compressed its Carrier Strike delivery schedule and “added risk with limited contingency”

Leigh Lewis says the time has come to consider more effective ways to set spending levels

Treasury and Cabinet Office vow to better align much-criticised SDPs with Brexit planning and Whitehall's ongoing £3.5bn efficiency review. But they reject calls to bring the public documents in line with the more detailed internal versions

Hammond avoids big tweaks to Whitehall budgets, but targets extra funding for social care and business rate relief

Treasury trails Hammond's first Budget, as OECD upgrades UK growth forecast

After decades of reviews aimed at driving down the civil service's running costs, Sir Michael Barber, former chief of Blair's delivery unit, is hailed by one Whitehall-watcher as "much less celebrity and much more focused on getting the job done"