GOV.UK blogs

Miscarriage: Civil Service helps to break the silence

In Baby Loss Awareness Week, Angela MacDonald, Second Permanent Secretary at HM Revenue & Customs, welcomes new guidance to offer support for Civil Service parents experiencing a miscarriage. Sadly, miscarriage affects a lot of parents - one in four pregnancies …

UK NSC screening manual describes best practice for national screening programmes

The new UK NSC screening manual sets out the evidence base, policy requirements, implementation processes, quality assurance requirements and core pathway components needed for national screening programmes.

5 Top Tips for Wellbeing

To celebrate World Mental Health Day we caught up with Mark Turpin, a Wellbeing Rep based in our Liverpool regional centre, to get some top tips for improving mental health. Mark has worked in the civil service for over 20 …

Why I keep talking about mental health

On World Mental Health Day, Kata Papunen reflects on the value of such initiatives and considers her own journey, including personal struggles which have been helped through having access to a range of workplace assistance and resources.

The School Census – what you need to know

One of our key roles is monitoring the school system to understand how well it is working and how things are changing. A key tool in doing this is the School Census, which is where we gather information about how …

Breaking down the language barrier

A short post recommending 2 simple techniques that can bring teams with different jargon, styles and culture, much closer together.

Supporting disabled people with the cost of living this autumn

Countries around the world are facing rising goods and energy prices, inflation and cost of living pressures after the pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine.   Disabled people in particular, often have additional costs from using extra heating, water use, personal …

The STEM projects helping young people reach for the stars

The UK Space Agency invested £65,000 into projects to engage UK pupils in STEM learning and possible space careers.

Black History Month: My Journey In Science

"I would advise anyone that it is never too late to pursue what you love, even in science. However, encouraging STEM subjects helps cultivate and steer towards achieving this. Having the foundation laid at an early age is helpful."

Penwith Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest; Cornwall’s western-most landscape receives further accolade of SSSI designation

By Mark Beard - Penwith Moors SSSI designation project manager The designation of a new Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is a reminder that, as a society, we value the special place nature plays in enriching our lives, protecting …

‘Time for Change’: we talk to our staff about what changes they have seen

This year’s theme for Black History Month is ‘Time for Change: Action not Words’. We wanted to talk to our staff and apprentice panel members about what changes they have seen in their lifetimes and careers, and what still needs …

Celebrating one year of the Navy Schedule Service (NSS)

My adopted programme (Navy Schedule Service) is a year old, and this is what I’ve learnt. Please join me in wishing the Navy Schedule Service a happy first birthday. Navy Schedule Service (NSS) went live 16th September 2021.   NSS, a …

The value of feedback: Part Two - top tips on giving and getting feedback

In the second part of her blog on feedback Lead Content Designer Leyla Kee-McParlin shares some top tips for giving and receiving feedback, and the things you can do if you want to explore this topic further.

Get vaccinated and boost your winter protection

This winter, both COVID-19 and flu may circulate at high levels, potentially at the same time.

Ahead of what could be a difficult season, millions of people are being offered vaccination to help protect them over the coming months.

Teach-in Sessions on Implementing the Concordat to Support Research Integrity

Teach-in Sessions on Implementing the Concordat to Support Research Integrity within Government The Government Office for Science is presenting two virtual (Microsoft Teams) cross-government teach-ins on the “Guidance to Implement the Research Integrity Concordat within Government”. The sessions will cover …

Autumn vaccinations and the role of social work

Lockdowns may have ended but out duty of care as social workers goes on - and that includes encouraging colleagues and those we serve to make sure they remain fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and a potentially resurgent flu virus.

Defra response to reported recent increase in fatal dog attacks

There has been front page coverage in the Mirror today on the increasing number of dog attacks reported this year. These attacks are deeply distressing and our sympathy goes out to the families of those who have died as a …

Celebrating customer service at the Insolvency Service

During National Customer Service Week, the Insolvency Service’s Customer Services Operational Delivery Lead, Ashleigh Finnigan shared some thoughts about what excellent customer services means to the Insolvency Service.

The night sky in October

September brought that first icy night under the stars since March, and it’s always a mixed experience! 

Making better policies and services

Jeffrey Allen from the Ministry of Justice shares his advice on developing policies and services that deliver long-term positive change.

Darlington Economic Campus: join a cross-government community

DDaT colleagues share their experiences living and working in Darlington

Making it easy to create and publish digital forms on GOV.UK

The Insolvency Service has published the first form made with GOV.UK Forms, our new digital form-building platform.

International Geodiversity Day – a world first

By Jonathan Larwood, Principal Adviser – Geodiversity, Natural England The world’s first International Geodiversity Day will be celebrated on the 6th October.  This annual event was established by UNESCO in November 2021 following a proposal from 109 international and national …

Black History Month 2022

Entering its 35th year of celebration, Black History Month 2022 UK runs throughout the month of October. This year’s theme, Time for Change: Action Not Words, focuses on the double-burden black people carry: experiencing racism and discrimination and then being …

Why and how we updated the GOV.UK campaign templates

There’s a new and improved campaign template for communicators across government to use on GOV.UK. Read what’s changed and how we’ve tested it.

A Year of Building with MoJ Forms

MoJ Forms is quickly becoming the go-to approach for busy teams needing a fast, affordable and secure way to collect information from users. A New Approach The MoJ Forms platform enables teams to create and publish their own digital forms. …

Lincolnshire farmer tells other farmers not to worry about Environment Agency check

Emma Billings provides an insight into the Environment Agency farm inspections taking place in Lincolnshire

Blandford Library – Connecting a community

Blandford Library in Dorset is a hub for the whole community, and much more than simply a place to borrow books.

Getting tested for an STI: Your guide to how it works

Read this guide to getting an STI test, including how to order and use STI self sampling kits.

Learning on-the-job has proven to be a great career move for neurodivergent apprentice Hannah

PR and Communications apprentice, Hannah Mead joined HMRC at the beginning of 2022 in the Sustainability team. Here she shares her experiences of learning on-the-job and her top tips for navigating ADHD in the workplace. Building on my existing skills …

How the pandemic altered our ways of working and advanced our learning

In Libraries Week Defra library officer Cathy O’Sullivan shares some reflections on her learnings from the pandemic and how it’s changed the way in which the Defra library service works.

SEO Research and Development (R&D) Pipeline Manager

SEO Research and Development (R&D) Pipeline Manager at the Ministry of Defence. This is a great opportunity for officials with a passion for science and engineering to apply their skills towards improving an entire R&D ecosystem. You will work as …

Water companies face new civil penalties up to £250million

There has been widespread media coverage of the Environment Secretary’s announcement that he will bring forward proposals to raise the civil penalty for water companies who pollute the environment by 1,000-fold - from £250,000 to up to £250 million.

STIs: Get tested, get treated

Here we summarise the key findings from our report Sexually transmitted infections and screening for chlamydia in England, 2021, and discuss we need to know to understand the risks, along with some simple steps we can take to stay in good sexual health.

How we will reduce crime by supporting people to get jobs after prison through apprenticeships

Apprenticeships help people get the skills that employers want and need, and we know employment is one of the best tools in reducing reoffending.   Prisoners across England who are eligible for release on temporary licence and nearing the end of …

Accessibility matters to us all at the IPO 

Following National Inclusion Week (26 Sep – 2 Oct) it’s now National Dyslexia Week and we’re reflecting on our accessibility progress here at the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). As I browsed through the archives, I came across a blog written …

Helping to put friendship first

Civil servant Bartholomew Oram reflects on volunteering with the Civil Service Retirement Fellowship (CSRF), a charity dedicated to supporting former civil servants and their dependants. Loneliness can affect every one of us at some point in our life. A study …

Leadership in Tomorrow's World Conference 2022

Leadership in Tomorrow’s World: Foundation Future Leaders Conference 2022 Tuesday 1st November 2022; 9:00am – 4:00pm Glaziers Hall, 9 Montague Close, London SE1 9DD or Online via Zoom The major challenges confronting society do not have simple resolutions. They are …

Introducing You To...

Hi, I’m Alice and I’m on a nine week internship with RPA as part of the Fast Stream Summer Diversity Internship Programme (SDIP). The SDIP is targeted at getting university students and graduates from diverse backgrounds into a career in …

How we are using machine learning to detect GOV.UK feedback spam

The GOV.UK feedback form was receiving a lot of spam requests. We developed a machine learning model to detect spam responses — here is how we created it.