7953posts
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Reducing antibiotic use in pets
Bacteria can pass between you and your pet According to the vet charity for pets, The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals around 52% of UK adults own a pet, with an estimated population of 10.2 million dogs and 11 million …
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Establishing a conservation breeding programme for hen harriers in southern England
By: John Holmes, NE Strategy Director Natural England, in partnership with the International Centre for Birds of Prey (ICBP), is establishing a conservation breeding programme for hen harriers as part of a pioneering project to reintroduce this iconic species to …
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A day in the life of an Interaction Designer
Thinking of applying for a role as an Interaction Designer at Defra? Daniel Leech tells us about a typical day as an Interaction Designer and why he chose to work in interaction design.
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Slurry Infrastructure grant: guidance now available
Applications for the new slurry infrastructure grant will open on 6 December 2022. To help you prepare, we've made the full grant guidance available on GOV.UK.
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Revaluation 2023 and business rates
Alan Colston is our Chief Valuer and Head of Surveying Profession. He outlines the main aspects of Revaluation 2023. Find out what sectors have seen changes and why.
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Digital Discoveries Part 2: Our top First Look principles and methods
First Looks are the Digital Discovery Assessment Branch’s (DDAB’s) way of assessing whether a project is suitable to proceed onto Discovery. In Part 1, we covered the problems we had with assessing a submitted project’s potential for Discovery in an …
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Boosting action on surface water flood risk
There are over three million properties at risk of surface water flooding in England. Surface water flooding happens when rain from major storms overwhelms local drainage. It is a real and growing threat to life, property, infrastructure, and to the …
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Message to the education and care sector from the Secretary of State for Education, Gillian Keegan
I wanted to say hello and introduce myself to you and everyone working in education and care. Some of you may already know me from my previous stint at the Department for Education as Apprenticeships and Skills Minister but it …
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‘The P Word’ – Reducing the stigma of periods across our college
Mel Kay, Student Support Manager, has been leading the way at Newcastle College to make sure that all learners have access to period products.
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Looking ahead in public service pensions administration
McCloud, pensions dashboards and beyond! The administrators of public service pension schemes have a lot to deliver over the next few years. This blog looks at the challenges they face, as well as sharing thoughts on potential opportunities.
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Cyber Insider: Joint Cyber Reserve Force
In this edition of Cyber Insiders, we take a look inside the world of the Joint Cyber Reserve Force with Squadron Leader Rick. We talk about his role as SO2 Selection and Training, gain valuable insights on the path to …
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We must sharpen our outdated security rules to fight 21st-century threats
By Tom Tugendhat, the Minister of State for Security - this article was published in the Telegraph on 15 Nov 2022. In 2018, the Salisbury poisonings were a clear statement of the threat we face. It was a tragic, and …
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Getting things done in government
Nick Walker writes about the particular and important skills we often undervalue, but still need in order to make it all happen. While transforming towards a more efficient Civil Service, it is even more important to remind ourselves of the …
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Mapping: An integral part of scheme delivery
As we discussed in a previous blog post, RPA uses digital maps to record physical land parcel boundaries and features, so correct payments can be made to farmers. RPA’s Operational Mapping Team tracks over 2.5million land parcels, using a range …
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How we are ensuring more children have access to high quality music education
Music is an important part of education, and it has been proven that it plays a key role in children’s cognitive and social development. This is because it helps with the nurturing of language, motor skills, emotional intelligence, and collaboration …
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What is the multiplication tables check and why is it important?
Research suggests that being able to recall times tables fluently is helpful when it comes to other maths activities. That’s why primary schools are teaching pupils their times tables, so they can recall them and don’t have to work them …
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Don't blow Christmas: avoid a mistake, spot the fake
The IPO has collaborated with a range of enforcement partners to help consumers stay safe when shopping and to avoid counterfeit products. With prices dropping across retail and Christmas around the corner, Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be irresistible. Find out how you could be targeted by online traders selling counterfeit goods.
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Increasing transparency in our winter statistics
The winter is a busy time for those working in public health and the health services. This coming winter, there is potential for respiratory or infectious diseases such as COVID-19, flu, RSV and norovirus (the “winter vomiting bug”) to coincide. …
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Transforming the British Army estate in Belize
DIO’s overseas teams are constantly working to support the training requirements of our Armed Forces in locations across the globe. In Belize, we’re responsible for maintaining the British Army Training Support Unit Belize (BATSUB) estate, which has recently benefited from …
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ESPAUR report 2022 - the latest findings on Antimicrobial Resistance
Antimicrobial drugs are commonly used. We have all heard of antibiotics, which fight bacteria, but there are also antifungals, antivirals and antiparasitics that fight fungi, viruses and parasites, respectively. The more we use these drugs, the less effective they become …
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Improving the design of subtopic pages
We strive to make GOV.UK the most user friendly site possible. Here is how we improved subtopic pages to meet user needs better.
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How does it feel to be an award-winning teacher?
Jackie Birch talks about her experience of winning the award for 'Teacher of the Year in a Primary School'.
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Never mind the quality, feel the width
Richard Schofield, Head of Inspector Profession, asks the question 'what is a “quality” decision?' and invites feedback on how we should define our approach.
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CDDO’s Autumn of Digital Learning
The Autumn of Digital Learning continues and, due to popular demand, the successful Innovation Masterclass is back!. Read the latest CDDO blog to find out, and benefit from, all about the latest digital learning opportunities available!
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How we're working to improve the England Woodland Creation Offer application process
Alec Rhodes is the Forestry Commission’s Head of Incentives Development and Compliance. In this blog post he looks at the work being done to improve the England Woodland Creation Offer application process.
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Fish Observers: The life and 'sole' of collaborative fisheries science
It's World Fisheries Day! As world leaders in marine and aquatic science with 120 years of fisheries expertise, Cefas will be highlighting the importance of healthy ocean ecosystems and sustainable fisheries stocks across our social media channels. To celebrate, we …
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What does a Technical Architect at the Home Office do?
What’s it like to work as a Tech Architect in Home Office Digital, Data and Technology? Shueb tells us all about it in this second post of our ‘DDaT Profession’ series.
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What do robots know about good content?
Algorithm-based readability checkers can be used to judge content quality, but should they?
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Trees on farms: success stories for nature and people
In this guest blog from LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), read about the farmers incorporating trees into their farms to benefit their businesses, wildlife, community relationships, and climate change resilience.
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Civil Service Fast Stream Campaign for 2022
Save the date applications open for the Science and Engineering Fast Stream on 8th December 2022! Society faces many challenges which science can help solve. The Covid-19 crisis in particular highlighted the essential role of scientists and engineers in improving …
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OPSS: Product Safety Engineer- HEO
Our Team We are a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers delivering testing and research across the broad range of regulatory areas that Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is responsible for. The team is based at our new …
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Julian's advice: 'Helping Men and Boys' this International Men's Day
Celebrating International Men's Day! Julian has worked at HMRC for 20 years and to celebrate International Men’s Day he attempts to demystify stereotypes and encourages you to take time out for yourself. “Just what is International Men’s Day? Why does …
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What does the Autumn Statement mean for schools, colleges, universities, nurseries and other education settings?
The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered the Autumn Statement on Thursday 17 November setting out the Government’s continued commitment to ensuring every child, young person, and adult can access world class education.
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Top tips for farmers to prepare for a site visit
RPA’s Field Officers undertake more than 6,500 site visits each year, supporting the farming, food production and food trader sectors across England. In this blog we offer some advice to farmers on how they can best prepare for a …
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Summer Interns - DDaT Diversity and Expert Recruitment
GDS is not all about digital technology - trust me my internship programme was all about recruitment
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Pioneering projects for a greener, innovative and digital future
Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) Chief Executive Officer, Nick Smallwood, discusses the progress that has been made to implement the ‘Transforming Infrastructure Performance: Roadmap to 2030’ policy document, one year on from publication. It is no secret that the UK …
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Mental health and me - blog by YanYang Chen, Magnox nucleargraduate - International Men's Day 2022
With the end of the year looming just around the corner, International Men’s Day poses a good opportunity to discuss a matter close to my heart – men’s mental health. According to latest reports, men account for around 74% of …
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Update on Environment Agency investigation
On 18 November 2021, the Environment Agency and Ofwat announced separate major investigations into possible unauthorised discharges at thousands of wastewater treatment works.
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Basic Payment Scheme: December 2022 Payments
As most will be aware, Direct Payments are being gradually phased out from 2021 to 2027. Progressive reductions were introduced to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in 2021, with the money saved going back to farmers through the rollout of …
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ESA Council of Ministers: Decision time for shaping the future of space
The next meeting of the European Council of Ministers will take place in November in Paris. But what is it all about?