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Ex-first civil service commissioner Sir David Normington calls for new guidance on the relationship between civil servants, ministers and special advisers, as he urges the prime minister and cabinet secretary to make a public statement on the need for impartial officials

MPs quiz three departmental chiefs on the role of special advisers – and the impact of briefings against civil servants

Department for Work and Pensions' top official tells MPs that his department "can't sit on an estate that's too big and not do something about it"

Reform think tank calls for rethink on civil service management style as it predicts more than 130,000 administrative-level civil service jobs could be automated in the next ten years

New appointments in the civil service, UK politics, and public affairs, via our colleagues on Dods People

Civil service’s largest trade union seeks judicial review of terms and conditions overhaul

Total running costs fell by over 7% in 2015-16, Cabinet Office says, as it readies launch of "New Property Model" to charge departments rent on their holdings

FDA general secretary Dave Penman questions why proposals will allow open selection processes to be ditched

Walport will serve as sole accounting officer for the powerful new research funding umbrella body

First Civil Service Commissioner Ian Watmore tells CSW that departments will now be able to bring in senior staff for up to three years and on a maximum salary of £142,000 without having to go through an open recruitment process

Praise for outgoing Rural Payments Agency chief after troubled period, as Defra announces that Paul Caldwell is stepping up to serve as interim CEO

FDA and Prospect argue enhanced salaries but thin pension offer for staff in the new Government Commercial Organisation will deter civil service interest and fail to attract real private sector talent

Caroline Nokes says savings from estate programme will be used to fund recruitment of frontline advisers, but MPs, including Tory backbenchers, raise concerns over access for claimants

New appointments in the civil service, UK politics, and public affairs, via our colleagues on Dods People

Exclusive: Cabinet secretary says reform agenda remains "strongly supported by ministers" after several key Francis Maude-era initiatives are scrapped, but stresses focus on "embedding leadership at a departmental level"

Exclusive: Cabinet secretary tells CSW that Theresa May feels "very strongly that she and other ministers were elected on a Conservative Party manifesto that must still stand", as he stands by the decision to set up two new Brexit-focused departments

Mark Thurston to leave engineering consultancy giant CH2M for new £650k a-year role

Estates strategy proposes opening five new large service centres and 50 shared-site operations

HMRC chief says Building Our Future plans will save more than reported by the National Audit Office earlier this month, but admits keeping hold of local knowledge will be a challenge if staff cannot relocate

Cabinet Office document suggests a significant chunk of civil service’s targeted 30,000 apprenticeships will already be employed by government departments

Former head of delivery and innovation at the Government Digital Service to take up new role next month

Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood praises outgoing intelligence chief – who tells ministers he is resigning for personal reasons – for his decades of "dedicated public service"

Rob Behrens, former director of the Cabinet Office's International Public Service Group, set to head up Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman after grilling from MPs

Cabinet Office report finds that Whitehall's move to digital happened at different rates in different departments, meaning information management was not properly re-assessed