Policy

New data science projects given the go-ahead in this week’s Budget will give the nation richer and more precise economic figures, the Office for National Statistics has said

Tom Walker – who heads cross-government cities and local growth team – hails "ever closer integration" and close support of the Treasury as ministers press ahead with devolution drive

Education secretary Nicky Morgan says consultation marks “biggest step towards fairer funding in over a decade”

Prime minister has reportedly delayed unveiling of legislative year ahead to allow focus on European Union vote

Burns Commission on Freedom of Information sides against charges for FOI requests, but calls for greater clarity on protecting policy-making

Cabinet Office-commissioned review of FOI rejects charging for requests, as minister Matt Hancock says government will "not make any legal changes" to the transparency act

Consultation outlines proposals to let government share data to improve services, reduce fraud, and create timely research and statistics

Cabinet secretary will be questioned by the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on Tuesday, after ministers in favour of leaving the EU question guidance on use of official resources

Lord Kerslake says it is “impossible to see why any fair person would want to remove this very basic service” - and vows to "sing the national anthem" if the government shelves plans to end automatic "check off" of fees from civil servants' pay packets

"One of our most important collective responsibilities is to improve the diversity of our senior leadership," says cabinet secretary, as new senior network launched

Sharing of staff and ideas between Holyrood and Westminster still hindered by "a bit of a perception" it will require upheaval for civil servants, says Scotland's top official - as she stresses "need to recognise each others’ evolving roles"

Powerful Economic and Domestic Secretariat to get a new deputy director to help departments focus on longer-term trends and the impact of technology

Ministers say new, single documents bringing together spending totals and broad reform plans will "enable the public to see how government is delivering"

When good ideas emerge, the public sector should seize on them, give them money – and publicise the civil servants who have dreamed them up. 

Rolling out text alerts, sorting out "crap" government IT, cleaning up data, and trying to recruit skilled people when the money's tight — there's plenty going on in the world of government digital, as Matt Foster found at the Government Digital Service's annual gathering

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

Interim agreement would allow Britain to restrict in-work benefits to EU migrants for up to four years in the event of "excessive pressure on the proper functioning of its public services"

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

Lord Grocott reviews Chris Austin and Richard Faulkner’s Disconnected! Broken Links in Britain’s Rail Policy

Former cabinet secretary says civil servants will be informally working on preparations for British exit from the European Union in spite of official assurances

Simon Case heading back to Number 10 from GCHQ

Former head of the civil service drafts in TUC chief Frances O'Grady and ex-KPMG deputy Alan Buckle to assess whether the Treasury is "fit for purpose"

Institute for Fiscal Studies says talk of "end to austerity" is premature