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Any reforms to the permanent secretary appointments process should meet three tests, first civil service commissioner Sir David Normington has said today in an article published in CSW.

Appointing permanent secretaries for four-year periods could increase continuity in the senior civil service, the minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude has claimed.

A third of civil servants fear taking a secondment outside government could damage their career and promotion prospects, according to a survey carried out by CSW and cyber security specialists McAfee.

The government is risking an “exodus” of talent because of its decision to squeeze civil service pay, pensions and benefits, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) published today.

Permanent secretaries should set “clear targets for advancing diversity in their departments”, head of the civil service Sir Bob Kerslake said in a House of Commons lecture on Monday. Part of being a stronger civil service, he said, “will be being more diverse at all levels, fully harnessing the talent available to us”.

The government is likely to implement a further set of civil service reforms soon, the head of the civil service Sir Bob Kerslake has told CSW, as it pursues “unfinished business” that didn’t make it into last year’s Civil Service Reform Plan (CSRP).

Reforms overseen by the Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG) have generated £10bn savings in the last financial year, ministers have today announced.

Nearly two thirds (64 per cent) of jobseekers registered on totaljobs.com said they would prefer to work for a public sector organisation in the same role as their current or last job.

The government will actively recruit civil servants and consultants who will be paid more than the prime minister in order to plug talent shortages, despite the current pay and consultancy restrictions, Sir Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service, told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last week.

All government departments will be required to deliver the goals outlined in the civil service Capabilities Plan released last week, Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service, has told CSW.

Civil Service Learning is struggling to reverse a terrible trend.

The Cabinet Office has backed down over plans to reform the terms and conditions (T&Cs) of all civil servants, CSW has learned. In a letter sent this month to all civil servants, civil service head Sir Bob Kerslake and Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said: “The proposed changes will apply to new entrants and, potentially, staff on promotion.”