7646posts
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PATH-SAFE: Tracking foodborne pathogens and antimicrobial-resistant microbes
To mark the end of World Antibiotic Awareness Week, Eva Scholtus and Emily Parr from the Microbiology Society discuss our collaborative workshop series as part of the Pathogen Surveillance in Agriculture, Food and the Environment (PATH-SAFE) programme.
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Celebrating excellence in education and recognising the amazing work of teachers
There are no words to describe how I felt when I found out that I had won the Gold Award for Outstanding New Teacher of the Year; I was genuinely speechless. It’s a privilege not only to help shape my students’ success but to also mentor student teachers and help them be the best they can be.
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Review of Health and Social Care Leadership: an open letter to all those who work in health and social care
Following the government's announcement of a review of leadership in health and social care, General Sir Gordon Messenger and Dame Linda Pollard have written to those working in health and social care with their thoughts on this important piece of work.
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FACTSHEET: Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre
Nationality and Borders Bill – the New Plan for Immigration The Nationality and Borders Bill is the cornerstone of the government’s New Plan for Immigration, delivering the most comprehensive reform in decades to fix the broken asylum system. The Bill …
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Celebrating success with our Technology Innovation team
Tony Riggs explains how our Technology Innovation team has done some innovative work recently to monitor the effects of trees at absorbing carbon dioxide, and on using high performance compute (HPC) technology for speeding up flood modelling, work which has received industry recognition.
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Flood Action Week
The Environment Agency has urged the people to take action during Flood Action Week, as the Met Office has predicted an above average likelihood of a wet winter this year.
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Customers support time-saving form RXC
Form RXC makes the process of complying with the terms of a restriction easier for everyone involved. We’re very pleased it’s proved popular with many of our customers. We have been working with them to improve the form so even more customers will adopt it and embed it in their systems.
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The Environment Act 2021 – a turning point for Nature
By Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England In years to come we might well look back on November 2021 as a turning point in our relationship with Nature. It will be remembered as the month when the UK helped to forge …
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Revitalising the sand dune ecology of Braunton Burrows
The Braunton Burrows sand dune system on the North Devon coast is the second largest dune system in the UK and a site of international importance for its wildlife and ecology. It’s also an excellent location for military training, with …
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Creating clear instructions for all users
Over 180 million Covid-19 rapid lateral flow tests have been offered to the public. Senior content designer Ben Clancy explains how they made the tests’ printed instructions easy to understand.
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The UK and Canada - working together in space
At Canada House in London last week, UK and Canadian space delegations came together to celebrate the collaboration between our two space sectors.
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Join us at our next Continuous Improvement Network meeting on 26 November
Join us at the next meeting of the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber Continuous Improvement network
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Preparing for BPS removal: why you should consider Countryside Stewardship
In this post, I’d like to share what we’ve done to make Countryside Stewardship a more attractive option for more farmers as they plan for the impact of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) reductions and subsequent removal.
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Consultation launched on banning single-use plastics
There has been widespread national media coverage including in BBC News Online, Sky News, the Telegraph, The Sun, the Guardian, the Independent, the i, the Times and the Daily Express of our announcement of the launch of a Government consultation …
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British, Muslim and proud!
Sadia reflects on her own personal experiences during Islamophobia Awareness Month, and explains why it's important to challenge and break barriers and stand up for others on a human level.
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What you need to know about drug resistant infections: the invisible pandemic
Antimicrobial resistance, the invisible pandemic. Learn more about what has recently been described as a profound threat to global health security and how APHA is sharing our world-renowned knowledge and expertise to protect against this threat internationally.
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The cost of school uniforms: new guidance from the Department for Eduction
The Department for Education (DfE) has published statutory guidance to schools on school uniform policy. My son’s school newsletter recently delivered the shock news that school photographs would be the following week. As proud parents we were looking forward to …
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Supporting strategic decisions with statistical modelling
In this blog, we talk about how we’ve been using statistical techniques and actuarial skills to analyse instances of fires in schools. This then allows us to better understand and model them.
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C’mon chaps, it’s time to admit it…
Today on International Men’s Day (19 November), a member of staff at the Planning Inspectorate (who remains anonymous) questions why mental health issues are such a taboo subject among men
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All aboard: Platforms for buildings
With COP26 fresh in our minds, it has never been clearer that we need to build and maintain infrastructure that is sustainable, resilient and high quality in order to deliver the outcomes that we need for people and nature. Against this backdrop, this month a small team from the IPA visited The Forge which aims to be the first net zero carbon commercial building.
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Open Banking Payments at HMRC, a team making history
HMRC recently made history by becoming the first tax authority in the world to integrate Open Banking into our systems. We introduced it as an alternative to paying tax with a debit card or corporate credit card. It has the …
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Cefas and industry science collaborations: Fisheries monitoring, the electronic age
This is the second in a series of short blogs focussing on Cefas’ fisheries science work in partnership with the fishing industry. Cefas Scientist, Rebecca Skirrow, who is the technical lead on Cefas’ Scientific Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) Programme, is …
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School Uniforms – What you need to know
School uniforms can reduce peer pressure at school for the latest clothes and help children feel settled and prepared for school, but they can be costly for parents.
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How we geared up for the changes to Driver CPC part 3 tests
Amanda Lane, Policy Manager of Technical Standards for the Rider and Vocational Policy Team, shares her experience of changing the HGV test process.
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The cross-government user research blog is back
We’re relaunching the user research in government blog
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Putting your questions to us
We’re going to do a monthly Q&A session on The Farming Forum. In this post, I'll share our approach to Q&As and links to the ones we've taken part in.
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New offence to crack down on dog theft
In today’s blog we look at a new criminal offence to punish those who steal dogs.
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Content and interaction –How to become design BFFs
Content design is a collaborative discipline, so when you’re the only content designer in your digital team, it can be lonely. You don’t have that content buddy to bounce ideas off, get a second pair of eyes on your work …
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Accessibility: adapting online services to meet your needs
Our Lead Interaction Designer, James Francis, gives advice on how to adapt your technology to best suit your needs.
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Why we need to prioritise equality, diversity and inclusion
Gail Larkin, Lead HR Business Partner and lead on equality, diversity and inclusion for employees at the Planning Inspectorate, reflects on the reasons behind the release of Inspectorate diversity statistics this week
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Know your enemy: the contribution of veterinary laboratories to antimicrobial stewardship
A world without antimicrobials (including antibiotics) would lead to an increase in serious illness, death and the spread of disease. Learn how APHA are working to protect their future effectiveness and why limiting their use is vitally important.
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Blue Belt Programme Overseas Territories playing their part in tackling Climate change
Throughout COP26 (October 31st – November 12th) we have shared with you the potential impacts of climate change being faced by the Blue Belt overseas territories. But we have also shown you the work that is being planned and undertaken …
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The four key ways we’re supporting staff wellbeing
Laura Fordham is part of the senior leadership team at Bedford Academy, she shares how they are prioritising staff wellbeing and using the DfE Education staff wellbeing charter and its principles to support this work. After a challenging 18 months, …
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Be a ‘Road Safety Hero’ by making sure your eyesight is fit for driving
For Road Safety Week, Dr Cathy Armstrong, Deputy Senior DVLA Doctor, talks about the importance of meeting the minimum eyesight standard for driving.
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Why we think online HTML forms are usually better than document-based forms in government
From an initial comparison of different forms technologies, we believe more teams should be using online HTML forms.
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What is antimicrobial resistance and why do we need to take action against it?
The national annual report ESPAUR (English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance) outlines the scale of the problem antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses and this blog reflects its latest findings, as well as the actions we can all take to mitigate the effects of AMR.
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Collaborative enforcement: Jail for carbon credit fraudsters
Joe is a Senior Investigator at the Insolvency Service. In this blog, Joe writes about how a multi-agency collaboration helped protect the public from scammers.
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Establishing horizon scanning functions in government
Over the last few years, Government Office for Science (GOS) Futures team have seen an increase in teams from across government seeking advice about setting up new horizon scanning functions. In response to this, Bethan Morgan, Senior Capability Lead in …
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Government sets out commitment to protecting seabed with joint statement on clearing unexploded ordnance
Today the UK Government has published a joint position statement which sets out preference for low noise alternatives to clear unexploded ordnance.
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Smarter working and wellbeing for civil servants event
Join Civil Service Local, The Charity for Civil Servants and Civil Service HR in a series of sessions around Smarter Working and your Wellbeing.