GOV.UK blogs

Disability Cricket – A growing world of opportunity

One of cricket’s best kept secrets is the opportunity that exists for people living with disability to get involved in the sport. The game’s latest participation figures show a staggering 70,000 plus disabled people play the game through  a variety …

COP27 Update: 70 green apprenticeships fit for a King

November is the United Nations Climate Change summit COP27. Recently, King Charles III - who hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace ahead of the conference - expressed how "vital" apprenticeships are. Apprenticeships received the Royal seal of approval from the …

Tackling IP crime with Trading Standards

Collaboration and partnerships are key to the IPO’s efforts to combat IP crime and form the core of the IPO’s new counter-infringement strategy. The IPO’s work with our partners is crucial for the strategy’s success. Our partnership with Trading Standards is a central element of this jigsaw. Marcus Evans, IPO’s Deputy Director of Intelligence and Local Enterprise Partnerships explains…

Protecting your property from fraud: Form LL – the ‘counter-fraud’ restriction

Are you considering entering a restriction in your property title register to protect against fraud? Find out how the Form LL ‘counter-fraud’ restriction works, what the pros and cons are and how to go about applying for one.

Digital Discoveries Part 1: Reviewing projects to proceed with

The Digital Discovery Assessment Branch (DDAB) is part of D Info and it accepts submissions to the Digital Discovery Gateway for project proposals.  Anyone can submit a project through the Digital Discovery Gateway and submitters are asked to summarise and …

Leader's blog: Chris Howes - why I’ll be at COP27

Defra Chief Digital and Information Officer Chris Howes looks ahead to COP27 and sets out the benefits of the new Government Digital Sustainability Alliance charter.

Giving children the best start in life

In this blog post, Chris explains what we'll be doing as part of our strategy for the early years.

RPA’s new supportive, partnership-based approach to visits

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has introduced a more supportive, partnership-based approach to inspections, moving away from the penalty-based system under the EU, to farmer-focused visits for schemes such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship (CS). To …

7th International One Health Day

Today we mark the 7th International One Health Day and I want to reflect again on the brilliant progress being made on One Health in the UK and across the world. Developing One Health approaches is still a key focus …

International Trade Week: Exporting Goods and Tracking Wins

Helping businesses trade with our services and products.

Celebrating 50 Years at HMRC: Peter

Earlier this year Outreach Advisor, Peter, celebrated his 50th Work Anniversary with HMRC. We caught up with Peter to ask him about his time in service and the biggest changes he’s seen over the last 50 years.   What has …

Launching government’s first ever multidisciplinary course

Paul Kett from the Department for Education introduces the UK government's transformational Policy-to-Delivery Course.

One Food for One Health

Cefas and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are leading on a new Defra-funded international programme re-defining how controlling hazards in food systems can positively impact biodiversity and improve their climate-efficiency. Food systems are defined as the web of …

How GOV.UK is upgrading to Google Analytics 4

Moving across to Google Analytics 4 is a major project. Here’s how we did it and what we’ll be doing to ensure minimal impact to the performance of GOV.UK.

Applying to university – everything you need to know

Young people who are considering going to university next year should be thinking about their applications and what grades/qualifications they need. But how does that process work? Here, we answer your questions.

Digital careers are ‘Not Just for Boys’ – promoting digital skills to the next generation

We recently joined Chwarae Teg to promote digital skills and careers to girls from a local school. Amy Taaffe-Evans, Head of IT Controls, reflects on the day’s events.

Everything you need to know about beach wash ups

In today's blog, we talk about beach wash ups and how the Environment Agency's role in responding.

A new start for facilities management on overseas sites 

Today marks the start of the first of a new suite of contracts to provide key services for the UK Armed Forces on overseas Ministry of Defence (MOD) bases.   We awarded the £155 million contract, which provides maintenance work, repairs, …

NCASC 2022 is here!

The National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCASC) is back - and in the physical realm this time after two years of pandemic-enforced virtual presentations. Once again, the Manchester Central Exhibition Centre is the venue for the year's biggest social care event, taking place this week, 2 - 4 November.

International Trade Week: Greener Growth and Investment

Promoting green trade and investment through DDaT services and products

Introducing You To...

Hi, I’m Holly and I’m a Senior Operational Analyst with RPA based in Worcester. I’ve been with RPA since transferring from Natural England in 2018. I work within the Operational Enabling Team, part of Agricultural Transition. Basically, we’re an RPA …

Helping parents understand the learning to drive process

Amanda Lane, Head of Driver Testing and Training Policy, shares how we plan to create content for parents as part of our ‘Ready to Pass?’ campaign and the role that ADIs can play in supporting us.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference 2022  

Flavia Gapper from The Charity for Civil Servants explains how this month’s conference is set to make a significant difference to improving mental health conversations at work. Now in its fourth year, more than 10,000 civil servants registered for this year's …

Developing digital prototyping skills: how interaction designers trained content designers

Lead interaction designer, Ros, and lead content designer, Nad, reflect on how they came together to upskill content designers to create and edit digital prototypes.

This is the first in a series of blog posts from our User Experience and Insight team on how they’re making sure the design and delivery of our services are user-led.

Making a difference in changing times

Helen Stephenson thanks trustees leading their charities through changing, and challenging, times and invites all trustees to join in Trustees' Week 2022 (7-11 November).

Building the Future - The School Rebuilding Programme Site Visit

Fast Streamer, Chloe Bonnington, from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) shares her insights from an engaging visit to the School Rebuilding Programme with IPA Chief Executive Officer, Nick Smallwood.    What is the School Rebuilding Programme? Announced in 2020, …

Chair's Stakeholder Update - October

Hear the latest from FSA Chair, Professor Susan Jebb

Building a Government Cloud Technical Community

The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) is seeking to build a government technical Cloud community of practice. Read this blog to find out more about the community, and how you can join to help shape the future of Cloud in government.

Libraries Celebrating Black History Month

Each October, libraries across the country mark Black History Month through events and recommended reading.  Here are just a few examples.  It is a longer read than usual but we wanted to highlight the variety of activities libraries run to …

Rose Grant: Why my family history is important to me

In Black History Month, Rose Grant shares some very personal reflections of her family’s journey from the Caribbean to London as part of the Windrush generation and how this has made her the person she is today.

Start Ready - a GAD actuary takes part in a disaster risk financing initiative

A GAD actuary has marked 6 months at the centre of a programme providing financial help to countries affected by natural disasters. Read more about his role in the Start Ready initiative, part of the Start Network charity, and how it takes an innovative approach to helping countries affected by predictable crises.

NHSD Care Identity Management beta assessment

Read the beta assessment report for the Care Identity Management service from NHS Digital

APHA science on the global stage

Follow APHA’s Neil Wilkins as he and colleagues represent APHA at the 16th International Symposium of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics.

Answering questions on monkeypox vaccination

Vaccines and reducing exposure are the best defences we have against monkeypox – in this blog we explain how the vaccine works, who it is being given to and the most important things to know about it.

Celebrating Black History Month: Meet Seun Taiwo

Seun Taiwo works in the Borders and Trade directorate as a Programme Management Office (PMO) Portfolio Analyst, for Border Policy Driven Change. His team is responsible for providing governance and assurance activities to the Border Change Delivery team. He is …

Why evidence maps are the UK NSC’s first step in reviewing screening evidence

Using evidence maps as the first stage in its evidence review process helps the UK NSC focus its more detailed work on topics where there is the most significant new evidence.

Technical Advisers at the Export Control Joint Unit

The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) in the Department of International Trade (DIT) is seeking talented engineering, science & technology specialists with a track record of applying their knowledge and expertise in a business, regulatory, research or advisory role. The …

How young people can access environmentally friendly period products at school 

Nobody should have to miss out on education because of their period. That’s why we’re ensuring this doesn’t happen through the Period Products Scheme which provides pupils with period products when they need them. Since its launch in January 2020, …

Mentoring and me: celebrating David’s Silver Award for Mentor of the Year

Today is National Mentoring Day, and we are very pleased to announce that our very own David Foster has been successful in achieving a Silver Award in the 'Mentor of the Year' category at the UK Social Mobility Awards 2022. David works for the …

Helping people understand cladding and building safety costs

GDS and DLUHC worked together to develop a smart answer to help users find out how much they might have to pay to remove cladding, or make their building safe.