GOV.UK blogs

End-of-Life of an Offshore Wind Farm

The UK has been an early adopter of offshore wind, installing turbines in our waters since the turn of the century. We now boast 14.7GW of installed capacity, and in 2023 offshore wind produced 30% of the UK’s electricity needs. …

What good regulation looks like and why it matters

The importance of good regulation in a challenging economic environment.

The Mercian Project: empowering woodland owners to improve biodiversity 

Rachel Bates and Russell Critchley are Woodland Biodiversity Advisors at the Small Woods Association. In this guest blog they reveal how a five-year project is enhancing biodiversity in woodlands in England and Wales.

Two million lasting powers of attorney added to online Use an LPA service

[English] - [Cymraeg] Once a lasting power of attorney (LPA) has been registered, donors and attorneys can create an account to give organisations access to view the details of that LPA online. This allows banks, healthcare providers and other selected …

Building a Digital Future: GDS and Stemettes Partner to Inspire Girls in Science and Technology

The Blueprint for modern digital government highlights the importance of creating public services that work for all citizens. As the next generation of both service users and potential digital and data leaders, these students offered invaluable perspectives.

Building tomorrow's legal talent

Earlier this year, we partnered with the University of Reading to give law students first-hand experience of real courtroom advocacy through a speed mooting competition. With feedback from judges and legal professionals, students built confidence, sharpened their skills, and gained a clearer view of their future in law.

Coverage of Council Tax Premiums

There has been prominent coverage in the past few weeks of council tax premiums on long-term empty homes and second homes, including in The Daily Telegraph which is campaigning against the measure. The government is determined to fix the housing …

Second chance, not setback: learning from a service reassessment

How a Department for Business and Trade (DBT) digital service team found a service assessment to be a positive learning experience.

Introducing the Maintenance Provision Rating Scheme (MPRS)  

Finding a reliable workshop where you have confidence in what you’re buying, just got easier with the launch of the industry’s Maintenance Provision Rating Scheme (MPRS). 

Funding Service: behind the scenes as a grant relationship manager 

From launching their second grant 2 years ago to 5 grants in a single week, the MHCLG Funding Service has come a long way. Hear from grant relationship manager Craig Bevington on how the team supports cost-effective, consistent and user-focused grant delivery.

Improving the Accessibility of Monitoring Data

Many marine developments, including offshore wind, are required to collect a huge amount of survey data during the lifetime of their project. A lot of this data is collected to fulfil monitoring requirements that are agreed as part of a …

RISE teams: Everything you need to know

RISE teams are currently working with over 200 schools – helping the department tackle underperformance so every parent can rely on a great education for their child.

Latest statement in response to small boat crossings

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security. “The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as …

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: saving parents money on school uniform costs 

Families shouldn’t have to be out of pocket when it comes to setting their child up for school.   That’s why our new Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will introduce measures to help with school uniform costs and introduce free breakfast …

Decommissioning the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo – progress so far

The Pile Fuel Cladding Silo at Sellafield, one of the oldest and most hazardous waste stores on the site, has been a focal point for decommissioning efforts.

How can microscopy enhance understanding of vector borne diseases?

Dr. Luis M. Hernández-Triana, Biodiversity Research Team Lead and APHA Vector-Borne Diseases Discipline Lead, tells us more about APHA’s growing work in vector borne diseases (VBDs).

Music metadata matters: how to get paid and credited

This year's World Intellectual Property Organization #WorldIPday theme is Music: feel the beat of IP, which is a great opportunity to highlight the important work being done by the UK music industry and IPO to help music creators get credited and paid accurately. PRS for Music, PPL and UK rock band, James And The Cold Gun tell us more.

My measles journey: ‘I woke to find a rash all over my body’

On 19 May 2016, I was admitted to Barnet General Hospital with measles.

I’d started to feel unwell a few days prior to this with a sore throat and temperature, but didn’t think it was anything serious so started a self-care routine of taking paracetamol and warm fluids with some rest.

Brent Libraries - Impact of The Libraries Improvement Fund

The Government has announced that public libraries will soon be able to apply for a share of a share of the £5.5 million Libraries Improvement Fund as part of the Government’s commitment to ensure libraries are able to upgrade their …

Platform-based delivery with DEFRA’s Core Delivery Platform

This new delivery platform has enabled more efficient development by removing repetitive processes with a central delivery portal.

Keeping services alive

What happens after services go live? What happens once large scale digital transformation programmes end?  Sarah and Juliette share what they learned discussing this topic with International Design in Government community.

Unlocking Accessibility: Frontend developers discuss semantic HTML and accessible code

We asked frontend developers about the importance of semantic HTML, how they ensure code is accessible from the start of a project, and how they make dynamic content accessible.

Standardisation of Post-Consent Monitoring for Offshore Wind Farms

The Marine Management Organisation’s (MMO’s) Strategic Renewables Unit (SRU) have been working with other government departments, Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCB’s), The Crown Estate and Renewable UK to standardise the monitoring of offshore wind farms, aiming to make post-consent monitoring …

Channel Islands Marine Spatial Planning Game

Rosie Bailey and Charlotte Stadden from the Marine Management Organisation’s marine planning team recently delivered two Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) games hosted in Guernsey. The sessions aimed to increase understanding of the benefits and implications of marine planning through interactive …

Should trees be planted within a productive farming landscape?

Mark Broadmeadow, Head of Climate Change at the Forestry Commission, shares his thoughts on whether woodland creation should always avoid the best and most versatile agricultural land.

Nearly 200 people respond to UK NSC stakeholder survey

Many thanks to everyone who responded to the UK NSC stakeholder survey. We will analyse the results and use them to inform any changes needed to the UK NSC stakeholder engagement strategy and activities.

Cornwall commercial fisheries pilot: summary report published

October’s pilot engagement in Cornwall brought together stakeholders in the commercial industry and officials. Read the summary report and what is coming next.

RPC publishes league table of departments lagging on regulatory evaluation and gains commitments to address the backlog

The RPC has today published information on outstanding Post-Implementation Reviews (PIRs) across government. Stephen Gibson, Chair of the RPC, commends departmental commitments to address the backlog.

Introduction to User Research – now available on FutureLearn

Our new, free to access Introduction to User Research course is now available on FutureLearn! Read on to find out how you can join.

Exploring approaches for using GOV.UK One Login in local government: join our discovery 

The way citizens access public services is evolving, and GOV.UK One Login, a secure and unified sign-in system, is central to this transformation. The Local Digital team is launching a discovery phase to understand how One Login could benefit local government by addressing challenges in identity checks and authentication. Learn more and find out how to get involved.

Meet the Modern Civil Service, Amritpal Chahal, Apprentice Software Developer - Ministry of Justice

The Modern Civil Service caught up with Amrit Chahal, one of the very first TechTrack apprentices. In this interview, we talk to him about his motivations, the TechTrack selection process and Amrit’s views on a modern digital government. 

Good food hygiene is good business

Cymraeg At the FSA one of our guiding principles is making it easier for businesses to do the right thing. Today we're launching a campaign designed to help food businesses improve their hygiene standards through better use of FSA guidance …

STEM Futures: Bridging knowledge across sectors

Interchange Symposium 2025 STEM Futures is a partnership of organisations across government, industry and academia, delivered by the Government Science and Engineering (GSE) Profession team at the Government Office for –Science (GO-Science). STEM Futures aims to foster knowledge exchange at …

Additional Job vacancies April 2025

Here is a list of more current veterinary job vacancies in the Civil Service. Click on the links to find out more. the links to find out more. You may need to set up a username and password to access the …

FIP: Guidance now available for upcoming funding competitions 

Farmers, growers and foresters who want to develop and implement innovative agricultural practices and technologies will soon be able to apply for funding through the Farming Innovation Programme (FIP). Guidance for the Precision Breeding and Low Emissions Farming competitions is available now, so you can prepare before they open on 5 May.

How UK technology helped land on the Moon

Nammo in the UK made the engines that helped Firefly’s Blue Ghost land on the Moon in March.

DBT's Machinery of Government: an insight into the teams behind the Single IT Platform migration project (part 2)

Continue to meet the teams behind DBT’s Single IT Platform migration as part of the Machinery of Government project.

Reflections on the Civil Service Climate and Environment Conference

GAD actuary Will Stobbs was at the forefront of a team that set up and ran a recent major climate conference. The event attracted notable speakers and exhibitors from across government, the public sector and academia.

Free breakfast club roll out: everything you need to know 

What is the new free breakfast club scheme?   We have introduced free breakfast clubs - 30 minute sessions before school where children get a free breakfast so they to start every day ready to learn.  Around 180,000 pupils in …

Update on Birmingham Waste Dispute

Local Government Minister Jim McMahon visited Birmingham today (Thursday, 17 April) – where the latest data shows that all of the large accumulations of street waste in badly affected areas and more than 85% of street waste across the whole …