9956posts
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Nursing associate stories: challenging myself to deliver better care
Chelsea Batchelier, 25, joined Royal Star and Garter at the start of lockdown. She has just begun her student nursing associate (SNA) course and is looking forward to what the next two years have in store. "I wanted to challenge myself, because I’ve always had a passion for caring for people."
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Funding scheme opens in support of nuclear test veterans
The Office for Veterans’ Affairs has made £200,000 available to organisations to bid for in support of nuclear test veterans. Organisations will be able to bid for up to £70,000 each to run community-led programmes that help to recognise and …
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New Forest Pannage Ham receives GI status
New Forest Pannage Ham has been registered as a protected food under the UKGI scheme.
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Join our Science Advisory Committees in 2023
We're looking for new members to join our Scientific Advisory Committees (SACs). This year, for the first time, we are looking for both full members and associate members. The latter category is specifically aimed at early and mid-career researchers.
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Forestry Apprenticeship: your questions answered
During National Apprenticeship Week (6 to 12 February), we held a live #AskAnApprentice Twitter Q&A to give you the opportunity to ask our panel of experts about our Forestry Apprenticeship.
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Introducing MOD.UK Frontend and the Design Library
We’re proud to launch 2 products that will help the Ministry of Defence (MOD) create consistent digital products and services. As the product manager on the Frontend team, I can’t wait to see designers and developers use MOD.UK Frontend and …
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Dragons’ Den, Series 20 Episode 7
Tonight’s booming episode of Dragons’ Den was as productive as it gets! Various deals were shared around the Den, offered by free-handed investors and rejected by wary, self-assured entrepreneurs.
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Gamekeeper sentenced for raptor persecution illustrates wider problem of wildlife poisonings
By Stephanie Bird-Halton, National Delivery Director. Today, Paul Allen, a gamekeeper working on the Shaftesbury Estate in Dorset, was sentenced for offences of possession of dead buzzards, keeping of banned pesticides and failing to comply with conditions of shotgun and …
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Social Security Advisory Committee: a unique and valuable body
Prior to my appointment to the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC), my work at the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group was primarily focused on tax and tax credits. At that time, I had developed a special interest in the tax …
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The new driver services platform: the work done so far and what's next
In this blog post, Jacqui Turland, Service Owner for the driver services platform (DSP), gives an update about the work on the project so far, what’s been achieved to date and what the next steps are.
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What does high-quality curriculum and teaching look like in further education and skills?
Our Annual Report 2021/22 showed a broadly positive picture for the further education and skills sector. 80% of providers are good or outstanding. Most of the sector is providing high-quality education for learners and apprentices, despite the pandemic and …
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How trees can stack up to help your farm business diversify
Peter Knox is a Business Development Advisor with the Forestry Commission. A key aim of his work is helping farmers become more resilient through incorporating trees into their farm businesses. Based in the Penrith Office, Peter oversees an exciting area for …
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Coverage on phosphorus pollution from agriculture
There has been coverage today in the Times – part of its Clean It Up campaign - regarding guidance for farmers to reduce and prevent agricultural pollution into waterways. The piece states that ministers have been accused of giving farmers …
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Reflections on my time with the Social Security Advisory Committee
I have been a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) since 2016 and, as my term comes to an end, I want to reflect on what a fascinating role it has been. When I was first appointed, I …
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Finding my purpose in climate change work in government
Ahead of a major Civil Service environmental conference, which is supported by the Government Actuary's Department, one of GAD's actuaries, talks about the growth of his involvement in climate-change related work.
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Ensure your land mapping data is up-to-date ahead of scheme applications and claims
Farmers are being urged to ensure their land mapping data is up-to-date before making scheme applications and claims in 2023. RPA uses digital maps to record physical land parcel boundaries and land covers, and this data is key to the …
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Natural England wildlife licensing statistics for 2022
By Stephanie Bird-Halton, National Delivery Director Many wild animals and plants are protected in law by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. As nature conservation adviser and regulator, one of Natural …
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Simple screening comparisons between countries mask complex differences
Variation in how health services are delivered and funded, how screening is described and how screening policy is made help explain differences between countries and regions in what conditions they screen for.
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Using Data Science for Next-Gen Statistics
As the 21st century progresses, using data effectively has become a priority for many organisations, including the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS's unique focus, however, goes beyond just utilising data effectively. The organisations ultimate goal is to create …
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Exploring Earth Observation
What is Earth Observation? Earth Observation (EO) refers to the collection, analysis and presentation of data to better understand our planet. These data are collected by a range of instruments on land, in the sea, in the air, or in …
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RPA’s strong performance helps farmers and rural businesses across the country
Recently, Defra shared an environmental land management scheme update including the full range of actions, payment rates and when they’ll be available, with a summary on the Future Farming blog. With more exciting opportunities in existing and new schemes to …
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Our Technical Cloud Community is blooming
Our cross-government Cloud community is helping us make the right decisions about Cloud: Which Cloud? Private or Public? Managed service? Infrastructure as code? In this blog Phil Chatterton, Chief Enterprise Architect shares his thoughts on what next.
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Launch of the new GOV.UK Prototype Kit
The new version of the Kit makes creating and updating prototypes of government services easier for all users, particularly those getting started with the Kit.
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Join D2S Today: Public Beta Launch
The Defence DevSecOps Service (D2S) is here to provide our users with a streamlined and accelerated software delivery experience. The service spans across people, practices and platforms and is designed to deliver a shorter time to market and promote greater …
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Coverage from the Save Britain’s Rivers campaign
There has been inaccurate coverage in the i this weekend following the launch of their Save Britain’s Rivers campaign. The headline claim on Saturday that only 6% of Britain’s rivers are on course to be healthy by 2027 is completely …
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Coverage on water company fines for pollution
As part of The Times Clean It Up campaign there are claims that water companies could “escape higher fines” for spilling sewage into rivers and seas. This is not the case. We have been clear that all options – including …
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Refreshed deputy standards
[English] - [Cymraeg] A refreshed set of standards has been published to help all court appointed deputies in delivering their duties.
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The Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot: learning together
Farmers across England are helping us to test the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) through the SFI pilot. In this post, I’ll share a snapshot of what we’ve learned from pilot participants through on-farm and large-scale, regional face-to-face events.
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How active demonstrators are challenging the norm at Sellafield
We know ‘what’ needs to be done to deliver our purpose of creating a clean and safe environment for future generations at Sellafield but working out the ‘how’ can be challenging as we tackle buildings that were never designed with decommissioning in mind. That’s where our active demonstrator programme comes in.
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Mind Your Head – Supporting the Farm Safety Foundation
This week we’re sharing information about the Mind Your Head campaign, on behalf of Yellow Wellies, Farm Safety Foundation. The Farm Safety Foundation is the charity leading the campaign to raise awareness of protecting the physical and mental wellbeing of …
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Government response to the Times’ Clean It Up Campaign
The Times has launched its Clean It Up campaign which calls for more action to tackle water pollution. We welcome the awareness it will raise of this critically important issue and scrutiny on the work being taken to tackle it.
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Coverage of payments to farmers following the UK's exit from the EU
Looking at inaccurate coverage in today’s Observer on payments to farmers following the UK’s exit from the EU.
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Experiencing AWS re:Invent 2022!
Dean Lewis shares his experience at AWS re Invent 2022 - a sneak peak into all the sessions with some great insights.
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A Year in Data Protection!
Glen Hymers shares the importance of Data Protection and his time at CO Digital building the Data Protection team and establishing its importance across the government
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Skills for life - not just for grant making
GGMF looks after your professional development and career, setting you up with skills for life, from apprentices right through to directors
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Fishing industry nets new funding to train the next generation
There has been coverage in outlets including Business Live, the Yorkshire Post, Press and Journal and Fishing Daily following our announcement on the winners of the first round of the £100 million UK Seafood Fund’s Skills and Training scheme. Winning …
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An inside view on apprenticeships at DIO
Did you know DIO has 101 apprentices working and learning in 13 fields, from project delivery to finance and property to human resources? We’re committed to continuing to offer high quality apprenticeships for new and existing staff, and will be …
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Apprenticeships in the pensions industry
To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week 2023, we want to introduce you to some of the amazing individuals taking an apprenticeship in the pensions industry. Since IfATE launched five years ago, there are now over 650 apprenticeships available to train people …
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International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Women have played a crucial role in science for as long as humans have been on earth. From the earliest use of herbs in healing, to the discovery of the structure of DNA[1], women scientists have always been pioneers. However, …
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Information dashboard offers new snapshot of veterans
A new dashboard showing information about the veteran community is now publicly available. The veterans data dashboard, from the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, has statistics in areas such as population, housing, mental health and employment. It will provide a snapshot …