GOV.UK blogs

Social Work Week: How to become a child and family social worker

Child and family social workers do vital work, helping to protect vulnerable children and change their lives for the better. Now is a great time to consider a career in social work. Over the next two years we will continue …

The probation services officer role from two different perspectives

We spoke to Pavenpreet and Georgie who work for London Probation Service as probation services officers. Pavenpreet has nearly nine years’ experience while Georgie joined the service last year. Will their different lengths of service change their reflections on the …

Dealing with debt: options for paying off your debts

The government has provided funding for free money guidance to support you if you are experiencing financial worries. It’s important to know there are various options available, and you can access free advice through MoneyHelper: Dealing with debt. Here we …

Trust Services Sanctions update

The UK Government remains committed to punishing Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, cutting off funding streams to the Putin regime and stopping those close to the regime from benefitting from western services. As announced last year, the UK government has …

Notify’s product strategy and upcoming features

Outlining our three goals to ensure we continue to offer a great product for the best value for money.

Civil Service Awards win for the Digital Shared Channels Experience team

Read how the team enabled and supported the delivery of the cost-of-living payments.

Supplying veterinary medicines at trade shows and exhibitions

Visiting trade shows and events As Head of the Distribution and Supply Chain at the VMD, I know that veterinary medicines, or products which purport to be veterinary medicines, are advertised and /or offered for sale at trade shows. This …

Celebrating the 2022 Sanctuary Awards

Since 1991, the Sanctuary Awards have been recognising outstanding sustainability and conservation efforts across the MOD. The awards celebrate group and individual-led projects that are benefiting sustainable development and helping to conserve the environment, natural resources and heritage across Defence’s …

My journey with equality, diversity and inclusion at Companies House

At Companies House, I've witnessed concerted efforts to be more inclusive. Few people can talk about what equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at Companies House felt like three decades ago. My perspective, as someone from a different ethnic background, is even rarer.

Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier and Wildlife Offers now open for applications

The application window for Countryside Stewardship (CS) Mid Tier and Wildlife Offer agreements, to start from 1 January 2024, opened today.   Earlier this year, Farming Minister Mark Spencer announced an average increase of 10% for CS revenue payment rates, so …

Why are forests and woodlands so good for our mental health and wellbeing?

Helen Townsend, Principal Adviser for Social Forestry has written a blog talking about her role to encourage and promote the personal and societal benefits of visiting a woodland or forest.

Celebrating Super Women In Tech

As a diverse place to work, we embrace teams that are inclusive and full of incredible women! Here are just some of the career journeys that may just inspire you or someone you know to come and work here at …

Civil Service Data Challenge finalists: Child Maintenance datasets to improve compliance

Data Challenge Finalists: meet the team connecting datasets across government to improve levels of compliance for child maintenance payments.

Civil Service Data Challenge finalists: LabSpace 

Data Challenge Finalists: meet the team that aims to enable policy makers and researchers to work together to quickly conduct policy experiments online - LabSpace.

Civil Service Data Challenge finalists: Project Heyrick

Data Challenge Finalists: meet the team aiming to change how the UK detects modern slavery using a modern data-driven approach, Project Heyrick.

Civil Service Data Challenge finalists: Sorting Mail Items With AI

Data Challenge Finalists: meet the team aiming to use machine learning to help HMRC sort through mail items using AI.

National Social Work Week and a worldwide day of recognition

The most important week in the social work calendar has arrived. National Social Work Week, incorporating World Social Work Day, gives us an extended opportunity to reflect on recent history, assess the current state of our practice and ask the question ‘What next for modern, progressive, person-centred social work?’

Attracting, recruiting and retaining staff

How to attract, recruit and retain staff is the topic of this blog. We look at the importance of the employee value proposition, and see what’s on offer in different parts of the Civil Service and public sector.

Government backs Ofwat’s announcement on water company dividends

Today, we are looking at coverage of Ofwat’s announcement of new powers to take enforcement action against water companies that do not link dividend payments to performance.

HMCTS reform: achievements, challenges and next steps

Our CEO Nick Goodwin gives an update on our reform progress so far.

Helping schools and trusts to buy goods and services

Kevin Draisey, Head of Procurement Operations, updates us on Get help buying for schools, and how state-funded schools and trusts can get the most out of this free service.

The Civil Service Data Challenge Final is coming soon

The Civil Service Data Challenge final is this week. The Challenge is a fantastic collaboration between Cabinet Office, Global Government Forum, NTT DATA and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - read more in our latest CDDO blog.

On the ball – the year Six Nations rugby got smarter

While we wait to see who will bring home the trophy, let’s look at what started as a humble pig’s bladder has come.

Why you should never get tired of hearing about good tyre management

Good tyre management is essential for every heavy vehicle operator. Our Policy Specialist Steve Cope explores what a good system looks like and shares some examples of bad tyres we’ve seen at annual test.

Budget 2023: What are ‘returnerships’ and who are they for?

We believe learning should be a lifelong process and that age should not be a barrier to upskilling, or retraining and getting the job you want. That's why we we’ve launched our ‘returnerships’ initiative to encourage adults over the age …

Norovirus: Information for parents, schools, and early years providers if a child is sick

Cases of norovirus are on the rise, with outbreaks in nurseries and other early year settings returning to near pre-pandemic levels in February. For most people, it’s an unpleasant and short-lived illness, but if your child is showing symptoms of …

How we are growing our 30 hours free childcare offer

England has some of the highest quality childcare provision in the world, with 96% of early years settings rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding. But we recognise that childcare is also one of the biggest costs facing working families …

UK Space Agency’s first Space Investment Forum

UK Space Agency Future Markets Lead, Daniel Jones writes about chairing the Agency’s first Space Investment Forum on Tuesday 16th May at the Institute of Directors in London.

Teacher strikes latest: Joint statement from Government and education unions

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan and the teaching unions have agreed to meet to talk about teacher pay, conditions and workload reduction.

Exciting opportunities to join one of the UK NSC’s expert groups

Apply for one of 12 exciting vacancies in the expert reference groups that support the UK National Screening Committee.

“As a mother, I’m really proud to work in the Prison Service”

Officer Phillips has enjoyed a rewarding career in the Prison Service over the past 25 years. She shares her story with us and tells us why she loves her job. Early in my career, I worked in a nursery. And …

Dragons' Den, Episode 11 Series 20

Intellectual property played a key part in the decisions made in the Den this week, with the Dragons ever keen to know more about how the entrepreneurs had protected their businesses. 

Construction and the built environment: Amelia's journey

Hello, my name is Amelia Russell and I am a Product Manager in the Construction and Built Environment Team at the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE). My current role is to support the development of technical education products …

Update on the Hen Harrier Brood Management Trial

By John Holmes, Strategy Director, Natural England Natural England is involved in several initiatives under the Hen Harrier Action Plan, one of which is the brood management trial. Brood management involves taking the eggs or chicks of some Hen Harriers …

Budget 2023: Everything you need to know about childcare support

Hundreds of thousands more working parents will be supported through an extension of the free childcare on offer, more than doubling the current support in place. This will help mums in particular to stay in work and keep the economy …

Discover our 'Trees on Farms' podcast mini-series

Jon Burgess, a Local Partnership Advisor and Woodland Resilience Officer in the South West, provides a quick round up of the 'Trees on Farms' mini-series created with Ben Eagle, and reflects on being a co-host on the Forestry Commission’s first foray into podcasting.

Veya’s use of HM Land Registry data to speed up property transactions

Taking part in the Geovation programme was a pivotal moment for Veya, which provides analysis of HM Land Registry title deeds. Founder Jason Howarth tells us how far the firm has come.

How to be an LGBTQ+ ally all year round

A lot of our diverse communities have different points in the year where things are celebrated, whether that's faith around a religious holiday, history or reflective months. Whilst that can be used as an opportunity to really show that a senior leader and the senior leadership team are really behind the community – this needs to leak out over the rest of the year.

We spoke to Mike about how to be an LGBTQ+ ally all year round.

British Science Week | Meet Sarah Wallace

To celebrate British Science Week, we sat down with members of the UKStratCom Climate Change and Sustainability Team (CC&S) to learn a little more about their career, their motivations for working in CC&S, and the importance of understanding our connection …

Working with European partners to reduce the risk of pathogens entering the food chain

Learn how our scientists joined forces with experts in 12 European countries to reduce the spread of Salmonella and hepatitis E virus in pigs and their work to help limit the risk to public health.