Chris Graham warns of FoI appeal backlog
The information commissioner, Christopher Graham, has slammed the “crazy” system of funding for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and claimed that the body is in danger of becoming...
View ArticleLooking through the boss’s briefcase
The government has now published its permanent secretaries’ objectives, listing the targets against which their performance will be assessed. Joshua Chambers explains how the move is likely to affect...
View ArticlePublic leaders of the world unite
As governments worldwide wrestle with shrinking budgets, increased volatility and a tide of open data, Matt Ross learns how public service leaders from different countries are meeting the challenges of...
View ArticleExclusive: NZ reforms contracts model
The New Zealand government is moving away from the system of fixed-term, target-setting contracts for top officials mentioned as a possible model for UK reform in the Civil Service Business [...]
View ArticleIncreasing private office size has risks, say former mandarins
The former cabinet secretaries Lords Butler and Turnbull have warned about the risks involved in mooted reforms under which ministers would appoint their own private office teams, CSW can reveal. [...]
View ArticleEvery department should have a historical adviser, argues Lord Butler of...
On February 21, a seminar was held in the Foreign Office to mark the publication of a book by the head of the FCO Historical Section, Gill Bennett, called ‘Six [...]
View ArticleGovernment “must not” repeat mistakes of police commissioner election
The Home Office has today been warned it must not repeat mistakes made at last November’s police and crime commissioner (PCC) election, such as delaying the release of crucial election [...]
View ArticleDownsizing Stormont
The Northern Ireland Executive has 12 departments – far more than the Scottish or Welsh Governments. Joshua Chambers examines the emerging plans to cut their number, and considers their chances [...]
View ArticleIfG: ‘Expand private offices’
Private offices should be expanded, with extra advisers appointed jointly by ministers and the permanent secretary, the Institute for Government (IfG) argued in a report published yesterday. It also...
View ArticleStraw calls for more ministerial say in perm sec appointments
Former home and foreign secretary Jack Straw has called for secretaries of state to have the right to choose from a shortlist of approved candidates during the process of appointing [...]
View ArticleBeith: MPs want a new relationship with government
There is a new dynamic in the relationship between select committees and government departments. The Wright reforms agreed in 2010 – including the election of committee chairs by the House, [...]
View ArticleInterview: Ursula Brennan
The Ministry of Justice is at the forefront of the coalition’s moves towards both outsourcing of service provision, and payment by results – meaning that life isn’t always easy for [...]
View ArticlePutting civil servants in Number 10 Policy Unit a ‘mistake’, says IfG’s Rutter
Appointing civil servants to work in the Number 10 Policy and Implementation Unit was “a huge mistake”, Jill Rutter, programme director at the Institute for Government (IfG), has claimed. Speaking [...]
View ArticleButler warns of the weakness of cabinet secretary-led inquiries
Asking cabinet secretaries to investigate accusations of ministerial misconduct is “not a satisfactory way of carrying out inquiries into serious issues,” former cabinet secretary Lord Robin Butler has...
View ArticleOpinion: Boost private offices says Akash Paun
Private offices should be boosted by letting secretaries of state recruit experienced policy and implementation advisers, says Akash Paun For a new secretary of state, the prospect of walking into [...]
View ArticleNo safe passage for whistleblowers
Public services are generally improved by giving employees the confidence to speak out against bad practice. But as Colin Marrs discovers, there are doubts over the existing frameworks’ ability to [...]
View ArticleNeds’ firms face legal probes
Companies run by two lead departmental non-executive directors (Neds) have been publicly accused of serious wrongdoing. An investigation into Glaxosmithkline (GSK), whose chief executive is Andrew...
View ArticleCS chiefs resist Jenkin’s calls for royal commission on civil service
Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood and head of the civil service Sir Bob Kerslake have told MPs they do not believe there is a need for a royal commission to [...]
View ArticleEstablish body to vet policies, says O’Donnell
New policies should be vetted by an independent body before taking effect, former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell has argued. Speaking at his inaugural lecture as a visiting professor at University [...]
View ArticleHodge backs Maude on perm sec accountability – and goes further
Permanent secretary appointment processes should result in ministers being given the right to choose their favourite candidate from a shortlist, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said last week –...
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