Finance

BIS and DfE urged to take "strategic" action over struggling colleges, while separate report confirms that the Skills Funding Agency's accounts have been qualified

Department for Work and Pensions accounts qualified again as NAO says fraud and error in the benefits system "remains unacceptably high"

Waheed Nazir – director of planning and regeneration and chief planning officer at Birmingham City Council​ – gives an outside perspective of the civil service, and says Whitehall is improving the way it works with local partners

Cabinet secretary stresses that spending review will allow departments to make "considered decisions" on "size and shape of their workforces"

Former head of the government finance profession handed CIPFA medal for "outstanding" public service

Union calls on Scots finance minister John Swinney to reject Chancellor's one per cent public sector payrise cap north of the border

Chancellor uses first Conservative-only Budget to announce four more years of public sector pay restraint

Welfare cuts plan will reportedly be spread out over three years

Permanent secretary Sir Simon Fraser tells CSW the FCO must have “a comparable offer” with other departments

Minister for the Cabinet Office Matt Hancock says new "implementation taskforces" recognise the need for cross-government working, but stresses the need for accountability

Lord Kerslake, former head of the civil service, says it is "highly doubtful" government can secure like-for-like replacement of housing association properties sold off under new scheme

No headcount changes under chancellor's plan to merge Shareholder Executive (ShEx) and UK Financial Investments (UKFI) into one body overseeing privatisations

Higher Education Policy Institute sounds alarm on un-recouped student loans

Thirty three companies take the lion’s share of central government procurement spending, between them receiving roughly £10bn of Whitehall money each year. But who are they? Do they truly understand the public sector? And do civil servants trust them? Rebecca Sims-Robinson crunches the numbers.

Lord Kerslake tells the Financial Times pressure on other budgets could be made "more acute" by protection of defence spending

Labour to set out election manifesto as shadow chancellor Ed Balls vows 'no compromise' with SNP over deficit

Kate Collyer appointed to the new role of deputy chief economic adviser at the Competition and Markets Authority

David Cameron gave his personal assurance that defence spending would rise from 2015, according to Liam Fox’s former special adviser. 

Former NAO director Mark Babington joins Financial Reporting Council 

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

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will look into the computer failure which caused chaos across UK airports last Friday

The Community Budgets scheme has taken another small step towards achieving change, finds Sarah Aston