GOV.UK blogs

Autumn flooding

Blog post by Chair of the Environment Agency, Emma Howard Boyd, in which she talks about the impacts of the Autumn flooding and the work that the Environment Agency is doing to reduce flood risk and help keep communities safe.

Civil Service Live 2020 is coming, how to get involved.

Civil Service Live is back with another UK tour for summer 2020 and we need your help running the largest cross-department learning events for civil servants.

Check out the latest November Government Security vacancies

A few of the latest vacancies within Government Security

Update on L+D4U

We promised you an update on the recent pilot for our learning and development toolkit, L+D4U. So with sincere thanks to all 337 colleagues who volunteered to test our prototype, read on for the results to date, and another opportunity to register your interest.

Number completing Level 3 health screener diploma reaches 300

In this article, we share feedback on the Level 3 Diploma for Health Screeners and tell you about a new resource to support it.

Horses Helping People CIC - where people can heal in the company of our gentle horses.

Imagine a haven of peace and tranquillity where people can heal, grow and recharge their batteries, amongst the green Buckinghamshire countryside, in the company of our gentle horses.

Chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss – ‘Out of Office’ message: 2019 highlights (Part 2)!

In the second part of Christine's blog, she talks about some of the work she has been doing on an international level.

Sharing, sight-seeing and submarines

CS Local Scotland Learning and development network – a year in review

Fostering a data science innovation culture

Data science is a complex, rapidly changing discipline and has an increasingly diverse range of applications. read how Nicky formalised the process of continuous learning and innovation by encouraging people to spend up to 20% of their time exploring new and innovative data science tools and techniques

Celebrating World Digital Preservation Day

On World Digital Preservation Day tomorrow, Jenny Mitcham, Head of Good Practice and Standards for the Digital Preservation Coalition, is spreading the word about digital preservation. Here, she reflects on her work for the NDA and provides an update on progress.

We’re hiring actuaries! Join the organisation that makes a difference

The Government Actuary's Department (GAD) launches one of the largest single-entry recruitment campaigns it has ever run. It's part of a push to recruit and grow our organisation to meet the growing needs of our clientele.

Factsheet: UK visa services

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) received more than 3.3 million visa applications in the year ending June 2019, of which almost 2.9 million were granted. The UK offers a high-quality service for those wishing to come to the UK. It’s …

Factsheet: Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

  The government is committed to tackling Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSEA) in all its forms and to protect children from this terrible crime. Scale of CSEA Law enforcement agencies in the UK are currently arresting around 450 individuals …

Climate crisis and the nation's forests

Mike Seddon, Chief Executive of Forestry England, looks at what they are doing with the nation's forests to help tackle the climate crisis.

Defence in the Media: 5 November 2019

The MOD announced today that a contract worth £2.8 billion has been signed to provide state-of-the-art armoured fighting vehicles to the British Army. Ahead of the upcoming General Election, the Defence in the Media blog will pause to reflect the Civil …

Factsheet: Desistence and Disengagement Programme

As set out in CONTEST 2018, the Desistance and Disengagement Programme (DDP) focuses on rehabilitating individuals who have been involved in terrorism or terrorism-related activity and reducing the risk they pose to the UK. The programme works by providing tailored …

Factsheet: Encryption

The Government supports strong encryption, which is used by billions of people every day for services such as banking, commerce and communications. However, we are concerned that end-to-end encryption has created significant and avoidable barriers to companies being able to …

New stress-free progress measures for children in reception

Today our blog looks at the Guardian’s article on the Reception Baseline Assessment pilots, and BBC News’ coverage on care homes.

Our blog will return on Monday 16th December.

The power of user research as a team

NHSX user researcher Sophie Rankin shares how the team worked together during the children and young people’s mental health discovery. This blog covers the approach to setting research questions, conducting research and analysis, with some practical tips for practising user research as a team.

Reducing parental conflict

Patrick Myers, Senior Ambassador for the Reducing Parental Conflict Programme, reflects on how the programme is trying to support parents to change their behaviour to create happier homes for children and the resources available.

On blogging, silence and contemplation #2

A little less 'policy', a little more 'lab'. We'll be quieter than usual for five weeks, here's why.

Help shape Services Week 2020

Back in January this year, we ran the first-ever Services Week – a series of cross-government events that looked at how we can work together to deliver end-to-end, user-focused services. From 3 to 7 February 2020, we will run Services Week 2020 and we want you to be a part of it.

Thriving at Work - Civil Service update

Two years on from the Thriving at Work review of how employers can better support all employees to thrive at work, how has the Civil Service responded to its recommendations? 

Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls

This factsheet outlines action taken by the government to tackle violence against women and girls.

Job Vacancy: Head and Chair of Aberystwyth School of Veterinary Science

Find out about a fascinating new role you can apply for at Aberystwyth University.

MAKE LISTENING A LIFE SKILL

As Black History Month comes to a close for another year, I have again been reminded of the importance of listening to each other. By taking time, we can learn so much about our colleagues, where they have come from, …

A day in the life of...Amanda Kerry, Content Designer

What is your role at MOJ? I’m a Content Designer and I’m responsible for creating content across end-to-end user journeys. It’s not just about writing words, it involves working with others to really understand the needs of users and build …

UK aid is vital, but our ultimate goal is to help countries support themselves

This article by International Development Secretary Alok Sharma appeared in Prospect on 5 November 2019.

Factsheet: Prevent and Channel

Prevent The purpose of Prevent is to safeguard vulnerable people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism, by engaging with people who are vulnerable to radicalisation and protecting those who are being targeted by terrorist recruiters. Background As one part of …

Transforming GOV.UK: the future of digital public services

Since 2012, we’ve taken nearly 2,000 government websites and combined them into a single site. But over these last 7 years, both technology and user expectations have changed in profound ways. In this post, Jen Allum talks about the next big phase of GOV.UK.

The pre-election period

Like many public service organisations we will be communicating in-line with General Election 2019 guidance from midnight on Wednesday 6 November 2019 until a new government is formed. Though we will continue to publish data, important operational updates and health …

Workplace Adjustment Stories: 1 – Sue’s story

In the first in a series of blogs on the theme of workplace adjustments, Sue shares her personal experience of how effective adjustments help her manage her mental health.

How Hull City Council is supporting its young entrepreneurs

Charles Cracknell of Hull City Council explains how the Hull Youth Enterprise Service is encouraging young people to become more enterprising, helping them to develop their ideas and skills.

Service assessments improvements: Understanding the Standard

This second of 3 posts on improvements to service assessments focusses on what we’re doing to make sure assessors and service teams have a consistent understanding of updated Service Standard. It introduces assessor forums and the ‘Private Beta’ for the Standard.

UK aid to help stop violence against a million women and girls

The International Development Secretary Alok Sharma has announced a new UK aid programme, What Works to Prevent Violence: Impact at Scale, to help stop violence against one million of the world’s poorest women and girls.

Do we really need a meeting?

Meetings are a great way to bring people in, build consensus and seek challenge. But have we thought deeply enough about why we are having these meetings?

We’re looking for two NHSXpert Patient Advisors

NHSX CEO Matthew Gould is announcing a call for two part-time Patient Voice Advisors, as part of a big push to make sure the patient voice is built into everything that we do.

£50m Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme launch and responsible dog ownership report

On Monday 4 November 2019, alongside the Forestry Commission, Defra announced the launch of the £50m Woodland Carbon Guarantee (WCaG) to help boost tree-planting rates in the fight against climate change. The announcement has been covered in trade outlets including …

Thriving nature for people and planet

Marian Spain outlines Natural England’s new vision and mission.

Science Apprentices Down Goggles For A Day

Vishanti Fox from the Institute of Physics tells us about an event for apprentices hosted by the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Biology, and the Royal Society of Chemistry.