Policy

Role of the civil service is to "make sure that we prepare for an incoming prime minister to take decisions", Number 10 says – as constitutional experts flag up a lack of contingency planning for a Brexit vote

Exclusive: Former head of the civil service Lord Kerslake tells CSW that key departments tasked with making Brexit work have been "stripped back" in recent years and will have to have an injection of resources

As Britain heads to the polls to vote on the the UK’s membership of the European Union, the result seems impossible to predict. But many are asking what, in practical terms, would happen if the country votes to leave. Here, Dr Alan Renwick of the UCL Constitution Unit gives a point-by-point overview of what the road to Brexit might look like

Former aide to the prime minister says officials "directly and explicitly" told Downing Street EU freedom of movement would undermine pledge to bring net migration below 100,000

Justice committee warns the Ministry of Justice against seeking to "represent the quality of its evidence base to be higher than it is" after senior legal figures criticise research into court fees

Public and Commercial Services union says it will "continue the pressure on BIS" over decision to axe Sheffield office, as staff kick off latest round of industrial action

Exclusive: Outgoing head of charity leaders’ network ACEVO criticises Cabinet Office over plans to support private business using civil society funds – but the department says it wants to "explore the potential of an untapped area of the economy"

Communities committee chair Clive Betts says councils are "worried that their spending needs and the funding of their local services will not be supported by their business rates revenue"

MPs on the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs (PACAC) committee are told that the century-old Haldane convention has been undermined by decades-long shift towards managerialism in the civil service

Special report: With just days to go until the EU referendum, civil servants will soon have more on their plates – whichever way the nation votes. Colin Marrs speaks to former senior officials and top civil service experts about the challenges a Brexit decision would pose for Whitehall, and why the alternative won’t necessarily mean "business as usual"

HM Treasury’s John Kingman, Northern Ireland Office’s Malcolm McKibbin and Department for Communities and Local Government’s Louise Casey also receive top accolades

Whitehall commentators and insiders at odds over expertise and timescales for “conscious uncoupling” with Europe

Report by former Court of Appeal judge Sir Stephen Sedley warns that departments are not keeping track of policy research – and says public debate risks being undermined by suppression of findings

The former Energy and Climate Change chief scientist, who died earlier this year, taught his department how to do policymaking without the hot air – by making the process data-led, iterative and open

Committee chairman Bernard Jenkin tells CSW it "should not be necessary to badger ministers and officials into doing the right thing", after Leave campaigners pushed to ensure pro-EU websites were not promoted in the final run-up to the referendum

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills perm sec Martin Donnelly vows to ensure staff are "fully supported" as he confirms plan to shut Sheffield policy site by January 2018. CSW has full details and reaction from the PCS and FDA unions, Labour, and frontline staff

Competition and Markets Authority says privatised Land Registry could “degrade the terms of access to its monopoly data in order to weaken competition to its own commercial products”

Online verification service passes service assessment, as Janet Hughes vows to listen and learn as scheme is introduced across departments

Late principal private secretary to prime minister David Cameron honoured in naming of this year's Policy Award

Treasury's second permanent secretary to set up new organisation bringing together research councils, in bid to support growth and cross-disciplinary research

Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union announces one-day strike action of policy officials set to be affected by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills' plan to close its office in Sheffield

Chancellor says Treasury civil servants planning for the impact of leaving the EU on financial stability in the UK – but Number 10 maintains no wider policy planning taking place

Politicians are fond of bandying around statistics to boost their arguments – but how much of what they say is informed by facts? Suzannah Brecknell meets Full Fact director Will Moy who explains his mission to rid public debate of “nonsense”

Resolution Foundation report says welfare shake-up has "genuine potential" but could be less effective because of cost-cutting