GOV.UK blogs

GOV.UK Wallet: Building momentum, working in partnership 

An update about GOV.UK Wallet and our engagement with the technology sector.

Coverage following the National Drought Group meeting

There has been widespread media coverage following the driest start to spring in 69 years across England. Publications include BBC, The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Mirror and The Telegraph. Environment Agency Area Manager Matthew Gable was also interviewed on …

Lifting the lid on the UK digital identity ecosystem: Digital Identity Sectoral Analysis 2025 

Today, we publish our first full sectoral analysis of the UK’s digital identity ecosystem.

Unlocking planning innovation: 150 brilliant minds collaborate in Leeds 

Innovation was sparked at the Local Government Innovation Hackathon, where 150 planners, technologists and digital leaders collaborated to solve real planning challenges. MHCLG proudly co-organised the event with Government Digital Service, Incubator for AI and Open Digital Planning, reimagining planning services through this hands-on approach.

Protecting the UK’s potatoes from the Colorado beetle

Calling on gardeners, allotment owners and the general public to look out for the Colorado beetle – a plant pest that poses a major threat to the UK’s food security.

Learning at Work Week: Discover the GSE awareness courses

This week is Learning at Work Week, and it provides a great opportunity to take some time for learning and development. The Government Science and Engineering (GSE) awareness courses are here to support civil, crown, and public servants with the …

From “tap on the shoulder” to transparency - 30 years of public appointments

To mark the 30th anniversary of the Nolan Principles, the Committee will be publishing a new series of blogs about the work of a range of standards bodies in England. Our fifth blog is from Sir William Shawcross CVO, the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Defra leads the way with eSIM adoption to drive sustainability in Government ICT 

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has become an early adopter in Government of eSIM technology (embedded SIM) across its mobile estate, setting a benchmark for sustainable digital transformation in the public sector. This initiative is part of Defra’s broader commitment to embedding sustainability and social value into its procurement and operational practices. 

Integrated marine monitoring to protect the Irish Sea

By Michelle Devlin, Naomi Greenwood, Carolyn Graves, Robert Brookes (Cefas), Mike Best (EA), Eugene O’Kane, Adam Mellor (AFBI), Mark Charlesworth (NRW), David Johns (MBA) Monitoring water quality and plankton in the Irish sea involves the joint effort and expertise of …

How to Prepare for an Inspection from the Environment Agency (EA): A Farmer’s Guide 

We play a key role in ensuring that farming practices comply with environmental regulations.  Agriculture is the biggest sector we regulate. We deliver at least 4000 farm inspections per year. These are targeted to farms and parts of the country …

Protecting Britain’s fields and forests: how genomics is fighting invasive threats

Genomics enhances plant disease management by enabling early detection and real-time tracking. APHA-led scientists, in collaboration with key organisations, in the GAP-DC collaborate to monitor invasive pathogens, improving proactive disease control across animals, plants, and ecosystems.

Farming Podcast: a farmer and agronomist’s perspective on IPM

In this episode, arable farmer and leader of the British On-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN), Tom Allen-Stevens, speaks with farmer Martin Lines and agronomist Ed Schofield about their experiences of implementing integrated pest management (IPM).

UK NSC stakeholder discussion groups: could you help?

Would you like to be involved in a UK NSC stakeholder focus group?

Celebrating International Nurses Day 2025

This week’s announcement, on International Nurses Day, that the title “nurse” will be protected in law is, in my view, long overdue.

Finally, we can reassure residents, patients and colleagues they are dealing with registered practitioners across all relevant care settings.

Becoming Foster Carers in the East Midlands

Sharnie and Zak's story We’re Sharnie and Zak, and we’re new foster carers with Foster for East Midlands Councils. We live in Nottinghamshire with our young daughter, and this year, we began our fostering journey after years of talking about …

Delivering seamless migrations and a future-ready platform

Transition between Gov.UK PaaS and a next-generation internal platform – how we built a resilient, developer-focused foundation for modern digital services at DBT.

How to apply for 30 hours free childcare and find out if you’re eligible

Here we explain the 30 hours funded childcare scheme for working parents and the 15 hours scheme for families on certain benefits, how to access them and apply.

A new peat map for England 

By Dr Ruth Waters, Director for Evidence, Natural England, and David Jones, Senior Responsible Officer for the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment, Defra England’s peat deposits are one of our most valuable national assets. They’re our largest carbon store, they …

Empowering the leaders of tomorrow: Leadership Values masterclass 

In April 2025, the GSE Profession held our Leadership Values masterclass, with the theme of ‘Innovation’. The event was aimed at developing the skills and values necessary for science and engineering leaders across government using the GSE Leadership Values Toolkit.   …

Advancing digital planning: Open Digital Planning’s first end-to-end product pilots

The first-ever end-to-end digital planning product pilots have been launched across four local planning authorities. The pilots integrate the new products into a unified system to streamline the planning process. Early results are promising and demonstrate how digital innovation is creating a more efficient, transparent planning system for both local authorities and applicants.

Remote link sites: transforming court experiences for vulnerable witnesses 

Discover how HMCTS remote link sites create welcoming spaces where vulnerable witnesses can share their evidence without facing a courtroom – making justice more accessible for those who need it most.

How we value: small shops

In this instalment of our How We Value series, we explain how small shops are valued across England and Wales.

Building the future of government software engineering

Learn about why we’re creating the Engineering Excellence council, and what it will mean to the wider software engineering community.

Transforming potential into impact: introducing the Knowledge Asset Spinouts Guide

Author: Jacob Coker, Head of Policy, and Cameron Fenwick, Senior Technology Transfer Strategic Partner, GOTT Introducing the new Spinouts guide  The public sector hosts some of the UK’s leading research and innovation, which, if commercialised as new products and services, …

Unlocking Accessibility: Information Architects share their approach to digital accessibility and design with people with disabilities

We asked information architects for advice on prioritising accessibility, educating teams, avoiding pitfalls, and using tools to ensure accessible information architecture.

Born in Britain: the innovators and inventions that helped win World War II 

Today we're shining a searchlight on some impressive wartime inventions. Britain has always been a nation of innovators, but in the lead up to and during World War II, British ingenuity led to innovation that formed the basis of inventions we still use today.

Designing policy with complex evidence

Farming policy design experts from Defra get to grips with making sense of complexity.

Seven Nations Marine Planning workshop

On 7 May representatives from the marine planning departments of England, Guernsey, Ireland, Jersey, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland, and Wales attended the Seven Nations Marine Planning Workshop, organised by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). The in-person workshop …

The East Marine Plan Statement of Public Participation (SPP) has been refreshed to highlight changes in the timeline

An SPP, required under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (MACAA), is the contract between the MMO and our stakeholders which sets out how, when, and why we carry out engagement. An SPP also outlines what we will do …

Svarog Penalty: A Lesson in Information Offences 

On 11 April 2025, OFSI imposed a monetary penalty of £5,000 on the UK-registered company Svarog Shipping & Trading Company Limited (“Svarog”).   This penalty relates to an information offence and is the first of its kind to be issued by …

The importance of oral health in children’s social care

Our goals for oral health in children’s social care We've been working closely with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to look at the importance of good oral health for children. We want to tackle oral health inequality by driving improvement …

Making the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) mandatory across government

The use of the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) became mandatory for central government in 2024. Read about how the GDS Data and AI ethics team have rolled out the mandate across government and how they have updated the ATRS to reflect learnings from this process.

Introduction to the role of evaluation in fisheries management plans

We are always improving how FMPs are developed and implemented, but how do we do that?

UK Launches Planetary Protection Technical Framework 

Planetary protection is the practice of protecting Solar System bodies from contamination by Earth life and protecting Earth from possible contaminants that may be returned from other Solar System bodies.  Following months of collaborative work between academia, industry, the Civil …

NHS AAA Screening Programme proves its effectiveness

A review of data has found that AAA screening in the UK has been effective and has contributed substantially to ongoing reductions in AAA-related deaths.

Welcoming the Casey Commission

Baroness Louise Casey has begun her role as Chair of the Independent Commission (the Commission) into Adult Social Care. Baroness Casey marked the formal start of the Commission by chairing a roundtable with people with first-hand experience of the social …

Guest blog: Benefits of engaging local communities in BNG

Rosie Whicheloe, Senior Planning Ecologist for a local authority in London, explains how she’s looking at the benefits of public engagement in BNG for the communities in which they live. Delivering social value alongside BNG is incredibly important in urban …

A day in the life: Policy colleagues engage with key RVN stakeholders

While discussing the role of Registered Veterinary Nurses (RVNs) within the veterinary team, 2 members of the veterinary policy team in Defra headed to Swindon to visit a large independent hospital. They spent the day shadowing the veterinary nursing team, …

Funding Service: Transforming an Excel spreadsheet into a user-friendly form

Find out how the Funding Service transformed a complex monitoring spreadsheet into a user-friendly digital form, helping to reduce admin burden for local authorities and improve data quality for policy colleagues.

StaCU: A Year of Building Trust and Accountability

By Robin Simcox, Commissioner for Countering Extremism Today, we publish the first annual report of the Standards and Compliance Unit (StaCU), documenting a year of operations since its February 2024 launch. When I was tasked by the Home Secretary with …