Operational Delivery

Unions round on the chancellor as Budget sticks to George Osborne's 2015 departmental cuts plans in spite of Brexit vote

One-year to the introduction of quarterly reporting announced after concern MPs on the Treasury committee

After decades of reviews aimed at driving down the civil service's running costs, Sir Michael Barber, former chief of Blair's delivery unit, is hailed by one Whitehall-watcher as "much less celebrity and much more focused on getting the job done"

Public Chairs Forum, Association of Chief Executives and the Institute for Government will track progress on the Cabinet Office's bid to improve relationships between departments and ALBs

Civil service chief John Manzoni says good relationships between departments and their agencies are built on "trust, clarity of accountability" and a "shared understanding of purpose and outcomes"

Select committee seeks feedback on payment delays, registration errors, and possible tweaks

House of Lords committee puts HMRC officials through their paces

Ex-Treasury perm sec challenges David Davis's claims about the civil service's readiness for Brexit, as his former colleague Lord O'Donnell warns of major task presented by Great Repeal Bill

Public Accounts Committee says department still does not fully understand impact of benefit sanctions, and warns their use could have knock-on effects for other areas of government

COO, who can expect to earn up to £140,000, set to take a lead on new Brexit-focused department's HR, finance and estates strategy

Department seeks Office for Disability Issues chief and deputy director for Disability Employment Strategy Directorate

Former minister tells watchdog MPs Whitehall has made "bad mistakes" in outsourcing IT projects

NOMS chief executive Michael Spurr to lead new HM Prison and Probation Service, which goes live from April 1

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

HMRC confirms it will look again at tax credits withdrawn by the US contractor

Fresh data flags more modest year-on-year savings, as Cabinet Office acknowledges that larger efficiencies "will only be achieved by total service transformation"

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

Ministry of Defence perm sec Stephen Lovegrove offers "expertise" to DExEU as Whitehall readies for Brexit – but downplays impact of European Union departure on the MoD's own work

New report from cross-party group of MPs highlights risks to shake up of police, ambulance and fire service comms — but praises low leadership churn at the Home Office

Boss of major outsourcing company says deliberate moves by government, as well as "foolishness" by suppliers, have put too much risk on shoulders of firms dealing with big public sector contracts