Policy

Exclusive: Ian Watmore tells CSW he is "absolutely convinced" that the current crop of ministers "wants to preserve Northcote-Travelyan" model of an impartial civil service, as he sets out focus on diversity, skills and leadership

Mark Leftly reports on growing support among parliament's influential select committees to let MPs "blackball" ministers' choices for key public sector jobs

Manzoni and Gummer convene refreshed advisory panel as government reiterates commitment to channel 33% of procurement spend through SMEs

 House of Lords Constitution Committee session told that wealth of academic data is often ignored

"We’re forever doing accountability ex-post," says the former cabinet secretary, as MPs kick off their new inquiry into the future of the civil service

Independence fears prompt U-turn as Children and Social Work Bill enters report stage in House of Lords

Exclusive: David Cameron’s policy guru and former Cabinet Office minister warns agains "jargon-ridden, non-sensical, useless, distracting management speak" and argues for better treatment of civil servants to compensate for pay restraints

"We do not require wider education legislation in this session to make progress on our ambitious education agenda," says education secretary

Public Accounts Committee urges Cabinet Office to boost departments’ oversight of quangos – and share accountability good practice more widely

National Institute of Economic and Social Research study, commissioned by the government, finds “no significant or systematic impact” of the programme, as the Department for Communities and Local Government says it has learned lessons from its first phase

Foreign secretary Boris Johnson’s first select committee grilling provides laughs and helpful sketches of flags, but little policy insight

Think-tank raises eyebrow at PM’s capacity to turn her Conservative Party Conference pledges into reality against backdrop of further belt-tightening and Brexit uncertainty

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Institute for Government, and the Chartered Institute of Taxation say the UK's tax system suffers from "too little sense of direction, consultation or evaluation"

Ed Balls, Jacqui Smith and Jack Straw are among the latest former ministers to lift the lid on their dealings with the civil service. Suzannah Brecknell reports

PCS union says plan to move organisation employing more than 4,000 civil servants into the private sector appears to have been "quietly dropped" after it fails to appear in the new Neighbourhood Planning Bill

Treasury resistance hampered early planning, while over-stretched senior officials failed to spot warning signs that the project to overhaul benefits was failing, according to an in-depth report published by the Institute for Government

Martin Donnelly (pictured) will lead the new Department for International Trade for a transitional period, while former DECC perm sec Alex Chisholm takes on the expanded business department

Britain's former top civil servant argues that we must “push back” deadline for achieving budget surplus in light of post-referendum economic uncertainty

Treasury committee chair Andrew Tyrie wants a return to publishing Treasury analysis that shows how policies will impact household incomes

Tax experts and industry bodies urge rethink on plans to make public sector bodies, not contractors themselves, responsible for applying rules known as “IR35”

Equalities and Human Rights Commission paints stark picture of differing outcomes for ethnic minority groups and urges government to join up disparate initiatives

New prime minister wants new Spad pay to be capped at £72,000 a year unless signed off by Number 10

Institute for Government's latest "Responsiveness Ranking" paints a mixed picture of the way departments respond to requests for information

Latest bid to change the culture of the civil service sees 4,000 top officials asked questions on their background