6032posts
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When your heart is in the country: understanding what makes the training estate tick
Having recently joined DIO as a Campaigns and Marketing Officer in our Communications team, one of my main responsibilities is to work on our Training Estate Public Safety (TEPS) campaign. Being new to DIO and the Ministry of Defence as …
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Launching the new Policy Lab prospectus
We bring leading edge approaches to policymaking into the heart of government. Over the past eight years we have pioneered the use of policy design, ethnography, systems thinking and collective intelligence.
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World Polio Day
The global fight to eradicate polio is one of the most successful public health stories in recent years. Polio was once one of the most feared childhood illnesses in the world. It can be contracted at any age, but it …
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The future of working age contributory benefits for those not in paid work
The Social Security Advisory Committee’s latest detailed report looks at the two contributory benefits for those of working age who are not in paid work: New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance and New Style Employment and Support Allowance. These have not received …
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A day in the life of a Senior User Researcher
Thinking of applying for a role as a User Researcher at Defra? Fran Redman shares a typical (or not so typical) day in the life of a Senior User Researcher.
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British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA)
Defra is proud to collaborate with the British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA) to highlight the incredible work veterinary nurses do. As the representative body and collective voice of veterinary nurses, the BVNA strive for positive changes that benefit veterinary nursing …
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FSA in NI's first Boardroom Apprentice
Judith Hanvey will attend four Board meetings a year as part of the 12-month Boardroom Apprentice scheme.
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APHA team at Weybridge wins Nobel House Prize for avian influenza outbreak response
The Animal and Plant Health Agency team based at Weybridge provided rapid diagnostic response to the 2021/22 avian influenza outbreak has been made joint winner of the Nobel House Prize for 2021. Celebrating high quality analysis and science The annual …
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Rejoining the Digital Workplace as a Part Time Developer
I had been out of the workplace for 3 years and last applied for a job well over 6 years ago so I started my job search by looking for advice on “returning to the workplace”. The world of applications …
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APHA Marks Biology Week 2022
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) took part in the Royal Society of Biology’s Biology Week in October to raise awareness of the range of scientific roles at the Agency and hopefully inspire the next generation of scientists to …
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PropTech sector wants to help deliver Housing and Planning ambitions
In the summer the DLUHC Digital Planning team held a virtual Roundtable event to connect senior DLUHC officials with a wide range of voices to help the Property Technology (PropTech) sector understand the government’s levelling up agenda and discuss where their insights, experience and solutions could help.
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How we improved the MOT reminders service using feedback from motorists
Maintaining and improving the customer satisfaction with all our digital services is important to us. In this blog post Nikola Coleman, one of our service designers, shares the process behind how we decide what needs improving and what we did.
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We Are Social Care Nursing: conference preview
Ahead of the We Are Social Care Nursing conference on 3 November, Lucy Gillespie, Project Manager for Regulated Professional Workforce at Skills for Care, gives us an overview of what to expect from its theme: 'Shaping the future of nursing in social care'.
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Get vaccinated: boost immunity and confidence
We are delighted to host this blog from Self Care Forum board member and senior pharmacist, Ade Williams MBE. In particular, he addresses the issue of waning immunity, an aspect of vaccination easy to forget, but one we must keep in mind as we seek to maintain protection for ourselves and those around us.
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Introducing You To...
Hello, I’m Norma and I’m a Customer Service Centre operative working in the call centre, based in Workington. I’ve worked for RPA for 24 years, starting with the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS). I currently answer calls on the Countryside …
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How we are helping improve pre-schoolers’ early development
The early years of a child’s life are vital, not only in establishing important developmental skills, but also in building a lifelong love of learning that will help them in school. Nurseries and childminders do vital work in helping children …
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Getting ready for the next six months
GGMF and GCG Directorate Services is here to help as you prepare for the challenges and priorities for the remaining financial year
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The Civil Service recruitment process, explained: part 1
Recruitment experts, hiring managers and new starters share their tips for the statement of suitability and Civil Service behaviours.
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GCSE and Key Stage 4 vocational qualifications data explained
The 2021/22 academic year saw the return of the summer exam series in which pupils sat GCSEs and exams relating to other Key Stage 4 qualifications for the first time since 2019. Pupils got their results in August and on …
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How to help your child's early language skills - top ten tips from the experts
Your child’s education starts at home long before they enter the classroom. And even when they start nursery or school the home is where a significant amount of their learning happens. That’s why it’s really important to build a positive …
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Improving the policymaking environment
Rebecca Lester and Serena Nüsing from UK Policy Profession examine what good policymaking environments look like and how they might be improved for policymakers.
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Back to the future: policy memory at the heart of reform
Jonathan Mitchell from Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education writes about the importance of maintaining a link to the past for making great policies and services.
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Building digital capability through our DDaT Profession framework
Our DDaT Capability and Profession Management team ensure our people in digital and technical roles have a clear profession framework to help them develop and progress their careers. They also do so much more. Laura Gregory explains.
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Is it really worth it for an extra few likes…?
A huge proportion of our population now spend much of their day glued to laptop screens or monitors. This has only increased since the Covid-19 pandemic. Research shows that 57.6 million people in the UK (equivalent to 84.3% of the …
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NHSBSA Immigration Health Surcharge for Students beta assessment
Read the beta assessment report for the Immigration Health Surcharge for Students from NHS Business Services Authority
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Vaccination, recruitment and the best dementia care
Dementia care specialists, Vida Healthcare, have been in the process of rolling out the latest batch of Covid-19 and flu vaccines to everyone living and working in their three care homes to protect them as they head into the winter months. This care for staff and residents is at the heart of their ethos.
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Fostering for adoption: early permanence carers
Hannah Moss is an adoption manager at Coram Adoption and lead in early permanence. Here she speaks to early permanence carers about their experiences.
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Future Farming Podcast: Young people in farming
To celebrate National Young Farmers' Week 2022, Matt McGuire welcomes 3 up-and-coming young people in farming to the podcast. Charlie Beaty, Ed Dungait and Charlotte Garbutt discuss how to get started in farming, the importance of education and the range of roles in agriculture. They also discuss the benefits new talent can bring to the sector.
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Connecting the workforce: changes to the blog
From October this year, the ‘Social Worker’ blog will be changing its name to ‘Children’s Social Care and Support’ blog. The blog will be for all those working across children’s social care and support, in such areas as social work, …
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Unlocking automation for HM Land Registry
As HM Land Registry looks to increase the level of automation across its services, Eddie Davies explores what this might mean for customers and the ways that HMLR operates.
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Health equity and the UK Health Security Agency
Stark differences exist between communities and population groups in the risk of exposure to an external health hazard, susceptibility to poor outcomes, and the ability of an individual or community to recover. This blog looks at our work and planning on health equity.
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New investigative powers: enforcement success thanks to teamwork
At the end of 2021, the Insolvency Service secured new powers to tackle directors from abusing the dissolution process and walking away without paying their debts. In this blog, we explore how the agency secured several disqualifications in 2022 using the new powers to tackle bounce back loan abuse.
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How to understand school performance – everything you need to know
We publish a range of data and information to help parents understand school performance – here we explain more. How is school performance measured? At both primary and secondary school, we focus on the progress pupils in a school make …
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Why woods are so important for nature
Woodlands can inspire us with a sense of going back in time, to a simpler world, where nature was rich and dominant.
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Engineering Biology & Industrial Biotech policy officer
The role is within the Technology Strategy and Security Team (TSS), which sits within the BEIS Business Growth Directorate. TSS’ mission is to drive policy that helps translate UK science excellence into economic innovation, helping grow the technology businesses of …
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Handling large datasets
At the Government Actuary's Department, we deal with a huge volume of data every day. Handling large datasets brings both opportunities and challenges. Learn more about our experiences in this blog.
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How satellite operators are shaping a new collision assessment service
Ensuring the safe and sustainable use of space is a priority for the UK Space Agency as part of the National Space Strategy. But how do we achieve this?
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Regulating a nuclear reactor at the end of its life
In August Hinkley Point B’s nuclear reactor ‘3’ was switched off after 46 years of energy generation. Victoria Thomas, our Hinkley Point B nuclear regulator, talks about her work at the power station as it moves to the next stage of the nuclear life cycle.
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Drought may remain beyond spring 2023 - EA’s National Drought Group
The latest National Drought Group meeting forecasts average rainfall over winter will not be enough to prevent drought conditions in some areas next year.
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Emily Miles' stakeholder update - Safer takeaways and the power of online platforms
The FSA has worked with three of the biggest online platforms, Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo to develop a new Food Safety Charter.