Project Delivery

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

IfG's deputy director Julian McCrae says long-awaited new plans are "little more than a laundry list of nice to haves"

Director for G-Cloud and the digital commercial programme at the Government Digital Service moving to become deputy director of the BIS digital service

As Home Office prepares to take on full responsibility for fire and rescue services from the Department for Communities and Local Government, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee say Whitehall must do more to understand the local implications of budget cuts

Home Office's top official tells CSW his ongoing review of the core department will see its headquarters "delayered" and its "management structures simplified" in a bid to better to support the frontline and learn from other departments

Transport department has improved its ability to let rail franchises, MPs say, but still lacks the capability to manage them, and does not have a “coherent strategic vision” for the rail system

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

As Cabinet Office launches new government-wide set of commercial standards, civil service chief executive John Manzoni talks up recruitment of contract experts – and explains tricky balancing act of supporting departments "in an intelligent, helpful, and yet challenging way"

Government hails major savings on government estate since 2010 and sets out plans to go further - but the PCS union warns "vital local services" will be undermined

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Louise Haigh says BIS showed "lack of empathy" in St Paul’s Place closure announcement

Reducing reliance on consultants and temps will require "much more fundamental workforce transformation" than seen so far, civil service chief John Manzoni tells MPs. But he says the organisation is "on the road" to addressing the problem

Report by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee says that final round of funding to the beleaguered youth charity — subject to a warning from then-Cabinet Office perm sec Richard Heaton — "should not have been authorised"

Chief executive of the Infrastructure and Projects Watchdog seeks to reassure MPs after merger with Treasury unit – and John Manzoni says new organisation will have more "teeth"

Report by MPs says Eurostar sale was managed well but that government used "over cautious assumptions" and should do more to build in-house corporate finance knowledge

Project "Ocean Liner" reportedly mulls insourcing and says there is "no consistent advice" for dealing with IT challenges across government

Tax authority's chief executive Dame Lin Homer is grilled on plans to cut HMRC's office network from 170 smaller offices to 13 regional centres

New report by the National Audit Office spending watchdog finds that while departmental spending on consultants and temporary staff has plummeted over last five years, latest figures indicate a “short-term reduction rather than a sustainable strategy”

National Audit Office says Department for Work and Pensions has improved oversight of Employment and Support Allowance tests - but warns of "perpetuating cycle of optimistic targets, contractual underperformance and costly recovery"

National Audit Office raises concerns over the number of transformation projects government is undertaking, as report notes that over a third of major projects due to be delivered this Parliament may be unachievable

Emergency services will be encouraged to share back office functions under plans outlined by the Home Office

Chief executive of the tax authority awarded in New Year's Honours list - while DWP perm sec Robert Devereux is knighted

Senior Department for Transport official – who has served as deputy director for high speed rail strategy – will head up George Osborne's Commission

National Audit Office finds trust deficits becoming “normal practice” 

After a scathing report on problems with the digital overhaul of the system for paying EU subsidies, spending watchdogs Meg Hillier and Amyas Morse criticise behaviour that was "distressing to staff and visibly confrontational"