Whitehall is losing its memory, causing bad policy-making and wasting money. The cause is excessive staff turnover, according to an Institute for Government (IfG) report this week.

About the worst hit department is the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) which lost almost a quarter of its staff last year, the highest percentage after the Cabinet Office. In three years from 2010, the then DCLG lost almost its entire homelessness team.