Policy

Francis Maude’s tweaks to a core facet of our democracy have the support of key players. But what about everybody else?

Former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell has spoken up for evidence-based policymaking – an approach often distorted by poor data or trumped by anecdotes

Kevin Hyland was appointed as the UK’s first independent anti-slavery commissioner by Home Secretary Theresa May yesterday. 

The first national UK shale college was announced by Business, Enterprise & Energy minister Matthew Hancock today. 

The Home Office have backed a proposal to prevent 17-year-olds being detained in police custody overnight after being charged, it was announced yesterday.

The first director general of Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) has been appointed following the Home Office taking control of the organisation on 1 October. 

The Department of Health (DH) and Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) did not adequately prepare for the delivery of the Better Care Fund, said the National Audit Office’s (NAO) Planning for Better Care Fund report published today. 

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has announced plans to centralise TB testing on farms to ensure greater efficiency from April 2015. 

Referrals from Scottish police to crime agency have risen rapidly

The government should introduce five-year spending plans and independent assessments of its infrastructure plans, former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell told an audience at the Royal Statistical Society last month. 

CSW reviews the latest release from The Public Management and Leadership Series 

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) is launching a new strategy to support and protect bees and other pollinators in the UK. 

G-Cloud suppliers and services could be updated every three months, the government revealed yesterday in tender documents for the sixth iteration of the framework.

The Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC) is asking key figures in the oil and gas industry for their views on the sanctions regime and cost recovery mechanisms of the newly established Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), as part of a consultation on the Wood Review. 

Local authority associations from across the UK call for meeting on more powers

“Choices will be made soon on further devolution,” said Dr Jim McCormick as he took up his appointment as a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) on Monday 3 November. 

Greater Manchester will gain significant decision-making powers from Whitehall after chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne and leaders of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) signed a devolution agreement today. 

Finance professionals across government should “get on the front foot” and make sure they’re involved in the policymaking process, the government’s new director-general of public spending, Julian Kelly, has said.

Tax evasion is the biggest cause of the UK tax gap, not big-business tax avoidance, and it needs to be tackled, director of Tax Research UK Richard Murphy said yesterday at a conference on taxation.

Marwick seeks elected conveners

Public officials should be free to try new approaches without fear of being “hauled in front of ministers, the Public Accounts Committee or being investigated by the National Audit Office”, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) says in a report published today.

The National Audit Office (NAO) today reported that only 62 out of 129 underperforming maintained schools improved their rating following formal intervention.

The government has announced that the G-Cloud 6 tender will be published next week.