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The government’s reform plans fall well short of the aim of creating a more professional civil service, says Dai Hudd

Ministers are poorly placed to ensure that their special advisers do not breach codes of conduct, the chair of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) suggested yesterday.

The Civil Service Benevolent Fund has rebranded, been given a new name, and switched the focus of its services to concentrate on information and advice rather than financial assistance.

A solicitor representing David Owen, a civil servant suing the Treasury for unfair dismissal, has said that officials are threatening to ignore the judge’s decision should he rule in Owen’s favour.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) failed to plan out the skills it will need in the long term before cutting its civilian and military workforces, according a report published by the Public Accounts Committee on Friday.

The government’s civil service reform plan will increase the “corporate management” of the senior civil service and allow departments to better understand the abilities of employees in other organisations when recruiting, Sir Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service, has told CSW.

Dave Penman, the current deputy general secretary of the FDA, will become the trade union’s next general secretary later this year, it was announced yesterday.

Civil servants in the PCS Union will strike on 10 May over reforms to public sector pensions, the trade union announced last week. They will be joined by NHS workers from the Unite trade union, it said.

The Treasury needs to improve its contingency planning, broaden the capability of its staff, and encourage officials to challenge policy orthodoxies if it is to better handle future financial crises, a report has stated.

The Cabinet Office is to run a central academy to train civil servants and local government employees in commissioning and procurement, the department has told CSW.

An overwhelming majority of civil servants (79 per cent) believe that they would benefit from ‘new ways of working’ (NWW) – such as hot desking and remote working – and some 99 per cent believe that their departments would benefit, according to CSW research carried out in conjunction with property and infrastructure firm Capita Symonds.

A new proposal for civil service pension reform has been sent to trade unions for consultation, following the conclusion of talks between both sides earlier this month.