The Home Office, the Department of Health, and Revenue & Customs have emerged as Whitehall’s worst departments after a ground-breaking government review of its own officials’ ability to do a good job.

The Department for International Development, the Department for Transport, and the new Department for Children, Schools and Families, come out best from the “capability reviews” – studies of each department conducted by top civil servants from other departments and external assessors in the public and private sectors.