9945posts
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How citizen scientists are helping to close the freshwater data gap
By Amy Stocking and Matilda Dixon, Higher Officers for Citizen Science Ponds may be small, but they punch well above their weight when it comes to biodiversity, supporting around two-thirds of all freshwater species in the UK. Yet they have …
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How AI-ready content can boost policy effectiveness
As use of generative AI grows, so does the opportunity to meet businesses’ quests for information. Only if DBT’s online content is designed to meet users’ needs.
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How to deal with restrictions in the register
Senior HM Land Registry practitioners set out how best to tackle restrictions that are no longer fit for purpose.
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Protecting our seas together: MPA byelaws, enforcement, and compliance
Our mission is to safeguard England’s marine environment while supporting a thriving and sustainable fishing industry. One way we can achieve this is through the implementation and enforcement of byelaws within our offshore marine protected areas (MPAs). Our MPA byelaws …
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Building the Skills System Britain needs: Skills England's role in Post-16 Reform, by Tessa Griffiths and Sarah Maclean
The government's Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper marks a pivotal moment, setting out the Government’s plan for a world-leading skills system which meets the needs of employers, drives innovation and improves people’s lives. Skills England will be at the heart of delivering this comprehensive vision …
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Coverage of the standards and conduct announcement
Today, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced planned reforms to provide local authorities with powers to clean up local politics. This responds to the challenges local authorities have faced since the Localism Act in 2011, which has …
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Introducing our new one-day IP Workshop for businesses
Our Business Outreach Team has created a new, CPD-accredited one-day workshop that introduces you to IP and helps you understand how it relates to your business.
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Challenges of Considering a Spiritual Model when Working Under a Social Work/Medical Model
Introductions Challenges of Considering a Spiritual Model when Working Under a Social Work/Medical Model - Soyeb Aswat Having come into the Social Work arena as a Newly Qualified Social Worker working within an area which had a large South Asian …
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A year of Google Analytics 4 on GOV.UK
Discover what we’ve learned in the year since the GOV.UK website fully migrated to Google Analytics 4, and how our use of data is evolving as GOV.UK expands to multiple digital channels.
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Five reasons to join the Operational Delivery Profession and power up your Civil Service career!
Discover how the Operational Delivery Profession provides civil servants with dedicated career frameworks, on-demand learning and a thriving community of practice.
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Celebrating talent and building a supportive future.
This month, we’re proud to celebrate National Care Leavers Month. It’s a time to shine a spotlight on the remarkable contributions care leavers make to our communities and society, and to recognise the unique challenges they often navigate as they …
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Navigating drought: Reflections on protecting waterways and supporting canal users
As the summer boating season has drawn to a close, it’s a moment to reflect on the challenges and achievements of the past summer. Drought conditions have tested our waterways and infrastructure - but they’ve also revealed resilience, innovation, and a shared commitment to protecting England’s canals and rivers.
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How healthy is our wildlife? New report unveiled.
Explore GB’s wildlife health in the 2024 report, led by APHA’s expert surveillance, uncovering disease threats, novel cases, and vital One Health connections across species.
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How to protect trees and woodland from mammal damage
Chris Tomlin, a Policy Advisor at the Forestry Commission, welcomes the launch of the Forestry Commission’s new tree protection guidance – designed to help landowners and managers identify mammal damage and protect woodland and agroforestry projects.
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Building Britain's Future: Why Nature and Growth Go Hand in Hand
By Tony Juniper CBE, Chair of Natural England It’s obvious isn’t it. Britain can either build the homes, infrastructure and clean energy systems our growing economy needs, or we can protect our natural environment for future generations. This apparent choice …
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What does the future of planning look like to you?
With Planning We Can! This World Town Planning Day, hear how Planning Inspectorate colleagues are building fairer, more sustainable communities—and how you could help shape planning's future.
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Building inclusive safeguarding workplaces
Le'Siran Edwards reflects on the journey from experiencing workplace racism to founding a national movement. The Black & Diverse Safeguarding Professionals Conference now brings together practitioners across the sector to share workplace experiences and build collective approaches to inclusion.
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A message from FSA CEO Katie Pettifer
Cymraeg CIEH Wales Conference: Embracing change, empowering environmental health I'm constantly inspired by the dedication of environmental health professionals—people who quietly and consistently keep our communities safe. So, I was pleased to speak at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health’s …
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How governors can support effective pupil premium strategies in schools
Governing boards play a crucial role in pupil premium accountability, challenging senior leaders on strategy, and monitoring how schools spend their grant. Discover how a link governor supports effective use of this funding.
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Sourcing the stack for local government technology
The blueprint is a bold vision for the public sector, and delivering it for councils starts by understanding the ingredients of a local government technology stack.
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Widespread reaction to social housing and brownfield funding
There has been widespread national and regional coverage about our announcement today setting out further details of the historic £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme as well as freeing up £150 million from the Brownfield Housing Fund. Coverage across …
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Introducing the GFiE Pathway to STEM
This National STEM Day (8th November), we’re proud to spotlight an exciting new initiative: Pathways to STEM, a Civil Service recruitment pathway accredited under Going Forward into Employment (GFiE). The pathways purpose is to create structured routes into Science, Technology, …
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UK Leads Global Earth Observation as CEOS Chair in 2025
The United Kingdom has concluded its tenure as Chair of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), marking a transformative year for the global Earth observation (EO) community.
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The role of data on school and further education inspections
This week we released information sets to schools, further education providers and inspectors that help frame our inspection activity. These are called the Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR) for schools and Further Education and Skills Inspection Tool (FESIT) for further …
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Sign up for UK NSC online seminar on assessing screening programme effectiveness
The UK NSC is holding its next seminar on 1 December, looking at how to assess the effectiveness of screening programmes.
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EMS (Extra Mural Studies) week for Vet students
Engaging with the veterinary community is vital in helping to promote the roles of Official Veterinarians (OVs) in the FSA as an attractive career path, so we do lots of work on this and the FSA EMS offer is an …
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Going Dutch to strengthen international collaboration on screening challenges and opportunities
Members of the UK NSC Secretariat joined experts from the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, and the Republic of Ireland at the latest Nordic Screening Network meeting.
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Be the difference: Why every civil servant should consider charity trusteeship
As civil servants, we dedicate our careers to public service, working tirelessly to improve lives and strengthen communities across the UK. But did you know there's another way to show your impact – one that could enrich your career whilst …
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How Companies House is helping businesses prepare for identity verification
From 18 November 2025, identity verification with Companies House becomes a legal requirement. Find out how we're helping businesses to prepare.
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Introducing the Mayoral Data Council: making data work for devolution
The new Mayoral Data Council (MDC) brings together senior data leaders from England’s Mayoral Strategic Authorities. As powers shift from Whitehall to local communities, the MDC ensures local government has a strong voice in national data initiatives, turning insight into impact for communities across England.
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Blue Skies Space to launch Mauve satellite, demonstrating a new model for delivering space science data
Blue Skies Space, a UK-based company, is gearing up to launch its first science satellite, Mauve, aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-15 in November 2025. This innovative small satellite will observe stars in the near-ultraviolet and visible spectrum, providing valuable new insights into stellar activity and its impact on surrounding planetary systems.
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Using AI sustainably: how Defra’s Action Finder tool has shown a net positive impact is possible
Two Defra product managers talk about a recent project exploring sustainable AI development and its potential to reduce the impact our digital services have on the world around us.
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Patterns for the global public sector
Designers Andrew Knight and Nicolás Rebolledo reveal the potential of patterns from the Public Design Conference.
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Meet the first organisations piloting Nature Investment Standards
Protecting and restoring nature in the UK needs both public funding and private investment. As nature markets have emerged – selling everything from carbon credits generated by peatland restoration to biodiversity credits from creating new habitats – we've realised something crucial: people need to trust what they're buying. That's why we partnered with BSI to …
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Environment Agency and Fire and Rescue Services strengthen partnership to tackle illegal waste burning
Examples of how the Environment Agency and Fire and Rescue Services are working together, locally and nationally to prevent and tackle illegal waste burning.
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Research software engineers in action
Why the Research Software Engineering conference matters for government By Dimitrios Theodorakis, Scientific Software Engineer and Pierre Siddall, Foundation Scientific Software Engineer, Met Office Following Research Software Engineering Day on 9 October, and our professional societies conference in September, we reflect on the vital role research software engineers (RSEs) play in government and the power of collaboration with partners. Who are research software engineers? Research software engineers like us combine professional software engineering …
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Growing Britain's future: investing in tree planting to restore nature and unlock growth
Today (Wednesday 5 November), the government announced the creation of the second of three new national forests in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor. Read this blog post to find out more.
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New proposals for sustainable scallop fishing in Welsh waters
Share your views on proposed changes to Welsh zone scallop management. Help shape a sustainable future. Consultation closes 15 January 2026.
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Our renewed inspection framework: what we’ve learned from pilots
Since September, we’ve carried out pilot inspections in 115 schools and taken time to carefully review the findings. Overall, feedback on the renewed framework has continued to be really encouraging. Many providers described the toolkit and methodology as a positive …
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What are valid certificates under the UK digital identity and attributes trust framework?
You need to have a valid certificate if you want to prove your service conforms with the UK digital identity and attributes trust framework, and want to apply to be listed on the GOV.UK register of services.