Legal

Prime minister unveils moves to scrap declaration of criminal convictions in initial application stage - as Whitehall's new chief people officer Rupert McNeil stresses that safety checks will remain in place

Prison performance will be subject to greater transparency, David Cameron set to say, while governors will be handed greater control over the education of inmates

Report by the Alliance for Useful Evidence and the Institute for Government finds officials held back by "structural and cultural barriers" between UK's various governments

Downing Street hails move as "further sign of progress" as David Cameron pushes for renegotiation of Britain's place in the EU

Think tank report says lack of guidance from central government and Whitehall capacity issues have frustrated local leaders’ efforts to take on more powers

Minister says longstanding errors with online documents could have affected 2,200 divorce settlements

Coalition justice minister Lord McNally warns FoI review panel is a "rigged jury" – while Lib Dem chief whip Tom Brake attacks Jeremy Heywood and Gus O'Donnell

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee says the industry regulator is failing to ensure savings are passed on

Former head of the civil service speaks out against plans to toughen union laws in latest high-profile intervention

Lord Strathclyde recommends new law to ensure that the red benches can only ask the Commons to “think again” 

Upward trajectory of FoI demands continues as Ministry of Justice sees further delays to "acceptable" response-time 

NAO research finds there are now 218 companies in government, but over half are not listed in official sources

Opposition tables a new amendment to the EU Referendum Bill that would grant 16 and 17-year-olds the vote in the public poll

Former head of the civil service says "public will draw their own conclusions" about any attempt to curb the transparency law

In the latest Ministry of Justice U-turn, the justice secretary reverses another of his predecessor Chris Grayling's policies

Gardner will be the first woman to take on the role overseeing government legislation

Economic Affairs Committee warns that Scotland Bill is progressing with “undue haste''

Information Commissioner's Office tells the Burns review of Freedom of Information that charges – backed by officials in a recent CSW survey – would have a "deterrent effect" and could create more work for departments

Decentralisation will not be a "panacea" for improved public services, think tank warns

Police and Crime Commissioners write to ministers over new funding formula – but Home Office says changes will improve "complex, opaque and out of date" system

Special report: Extensive cross-government survey finds broad range of views on the FOI act – with calls for more central support in dealing with requests and just over 50% of officials in favour of introducing charges

Senior Tory backbencher joins former Treasury solicitor Sir Paul Jenkins in questioning removal of reference to international law

Analysis: What does the tax credits defeat in the House of Lords mean for the government's legislative programme – and are civil servants ready for the fallout?

Ministers vow to "sort out the relationship between the Commons and the Lords" after government forced into tax credits rethink