8865posts
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Collaborative underwater TV surveys of Nephrops in the Irish Sea
Nephrops (Nephrops norvegicus), more commonly called langoustines, Dublin Bay prawns or just prawns, are a commercially important shellfish species, with numerous fisheries around Great Britain and Ireland. The fisheries represent an economic value of £114 million (UK Sea Fisheries Statistics …
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Empowering Women in Tech: DBT’s focus on inclusion and innovation
“Diversity in Digital and Data leads to better outcomes for all of DBT and the businesses we support in the UK and beyond.”
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New year, new challenges – and we've hit the ground running
Interim Chief Executive Graham Stallwood looks forward to working together across the planning sector in a busy and exciting 2026.
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Own a flat or looking to buy? Here’s what the new leasehold shake-up means for you 💸
Millions of homeowners – mostly flat owners – will save significant cash thanks to a new major shake‑up of the leasehold system. If you own a flat or are looking to buy one, you probably know about the excessive charges …
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Do schools close because of bad weather? Everything parents need to know
Schools will make every effort to stay open in adverse weather conditions, however, the safety of pupils and teachers is a top priority. Here's everything you need to know.
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Using Local Nature Recovery Strategies to guide on-farm decisions
Whether you’re looking to improve soil health, manage flood risk, diversify income or plan future environmental activity, your Local Nature Recovery Strategy can help you decide what to do.
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More sensitive bowel cancer screening test implemented in line with UK NSC recommendation
The NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England has increased the sensitivity of bowel cancer screening faecal immunochemical test in line with the UK NSC recommendation.
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What the government's updated guidance on mobile phones means for school inspections
You may have seen that the Department for Education (DfE) is tightening its guidance on mobile phones in schools. Our Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, has said many times that you already have his and Ofsted's full backing to ban mobile phones …
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Holocaust Memorial Day 2026 – My Family’s Story - Dalya Wittenberg
Dalya Wittenberg shares how tracing her grandparents' escape from Nazi-occupied Poland led her to become a Holocaust educator – and why passing on survivor stories matters more than ever. The first time I disclosed to colleagues that I am a …
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Unlocking Better Outcomes: The Power of UPRNs in Linking Data
What are UPRNs? In an increasingly data-driven world, seamless data integration is essential for effective, efficient public services and business operations. Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) are unique identifiers of up to 12 digits which are assigned to every addressable location in the UK. These …
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Early years inspections: frequently asked questions
Since we published the renewed inspection framework on 9 September 2025, we’ve put on lots of online and face-to-face engagement with early years settings to answer your questions. We’re publishing the most frequently asked questions below, so you can see all the …
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Coverage of our Design and Placemaking Planning Practice Guidance
Temple Gardens, North Somerset ©Historic England Yesterday we announced our new design guidance, giving councils and developers a clear rulebook to deliver better‑designed, safer and healthier neighbourhoods that complement local areas. This forms part of the biggest planning rewrite in a decade, designed …
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Balancing Nature and Development: The Humber Estuary Protected Site Strategy Pilot
By Katharine Carson, Senior Officer, Sustainable Development, Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Area Team When you think of the Humber Estuary, you might picture big stretches of mudflats full of wading birds like curlew and lapwing. Or maybe you think of the busy docks and …
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Becoming the trusted guardian of corporate transparency
Andy King, Chief Executive and Registrar of Companies for England and Wales looks back on a transformative year for Companies House, and sets out what's ahead for 2026.
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Misleading reporting on election postponement
There has been some misleading reporting in a number of media outlets today claiming some local elections have been “cancelled”. That is not the case. Elections in 29 areas are being postponed — not cancelled. Those councils provided evidence that …
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The evolution of trade marks: from brewery triangles to digital titans
The celebration of 150 years since the first registered UK trade mark is the perfect opportunity to remember how trade marks have shaped the world we live in.
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Tackling violence against women through whole system design
London Government expert, Olumide Adisa, uses systems thinking to improve outcomes for victims.
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What is measles and why is it so important we're up to date with our vaccines to protect against it?
Measles is highly contagious so even a small decline in vaccine uptake can lead to a rise in cases. There has been a resurgence of measles in England and around the world in recent years. In 2024 there were 2,911 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England, the highest number of cases recorded annually in decades.
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Making our funded vet visits work better for pig farmers
Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) testing is a required part of the animal health and welfare review for pigs. From 22 January, vets will be able to use blood samples as an alternative to oral fluid samples, making it easier for pig farmers to take part in the review.
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Divorce Step by Step: Your Essential Guide
Discover how the divorce process really works, from gathering your documents to receiving your final order and learn the common mistakes that can delay your application.
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Making the government’s first digital wallet a reality
In 2025, the digital Veteran Card went live, and private testing began for the digital driving licence. These were big milestones for the team building the UK Government’s first digital wallet – read on to find out what we’ve been doing.
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A parent’s guide to croup: what are the symptoms and when to seek medical advice
Croup is a common childhood condition that affects the windpipe, the airways to the lungs, and the voice box. It mainly affects babies and young children, typically those aged between 6 months and 3 years, though most cases occur in 1-year-olds. Boys tend to be affected more than girls, and croup is most common during …
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Our journey to delivering the Fire and Rescue Data Platform
The recently launched Fire and Rescue Data Platform (FaRDaP) is one of the most critical digital services underpinning emergency response across England, Scotland and Wales. Learn how the FaRDaP team built and now run a nationwide service that helps record incident data more easily, keeps communities safer, and supports the future of the fire sector.
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Sciencewise: bringing the public voice into science and policy-making
Sciencewise is the UK’s internationally respected programme for public dialogue with science and technology, ensuring public opinions and concerns are factored into policy-making. Sciencewise Programme Director Katie Weeks explains more about their work. From climate change to artificial intelligence, genome editing to data research, science and …
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Inaccurate reporting about local election High Court ruling
There has been some initial inaccurate reporting in a number of outlets that a High Court order today ruled the government cannot proceed with potential postponements to some local elections in areas undergoing reorganisation. This is entirely wrong and misleading. …
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What are the symptoms of shingles and what is the connection to chickenpox?
Shingles, known medically as herpes zoster, is an infection that causes a painful rash. It is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox (varicella). Once someone has recovered from chickenpox, the virus remains dormant in the body and then can reactivate later in life and present as shingles because of decreased immunity – either …
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Testing a new GOV.UK publishing application: Content Block Manager
We’ve built an application that allows GOV.UK publishers to create and reuse modular content. Find out how it works, what we’ve learned from testing and what’s next.
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Unlocking Space for Agriculture
The UK Space Agency is funding two four‑month pilot projects, using satellite data and digital tools to help farmers make more informed decisions, boost productivity and care for the environment.
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Help us improve the registration process for children’s social care services and early years and childcare provision
Are you planning to register a children’s social care service, or register as an early years or childcare provider? We’d love to hear from you! Ofsted is running user research sessions to explore how we can improve the application process. If you're thinking of registering any of the services listed below, …
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Windows 11 in DBT: Putting people first in digital change
How DBT lead with a human-centred approach to upgrade its staff onto Windows 11.
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HM Land Registry portal to be refreshed
The design refresh is all part of HM Land Registry's efforts to continually improve customer services, drawing from customer feedback to provide the level of support expected from a modern digital government.
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Our roadmap for modern digital government
This week, we published our roadmap for modern digital government, setting out how teams across government are transforming public services through joined‑up platforms, AI adoption, stronger digital infrastructure, investment in talent, smarter funding, and greater transparency.
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Helping people with health and work: what we learned
We tested a new way to connect health and government support, helping people with long-term conditions stay in or return to work.
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Reflections on my first year as Chief Social Worker for Adults
I hope the new year started well and everyone had a good break over the holidays. This time last year I started as the Chief Social Worker at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and much has happened …
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Cross-partner working on targeted screening: UK NSC, NICE and HIS
UK NSC works with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Health Improvement Scotland (HIS) to help improve early detection of health conditions.
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Investigations at OPG
[English] - [Cymraeg] Last year, our teams handled more than 11,000 concerns reported to us – with only around a third falling within our legal powers to act. Understanding how investigations work at the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), and how we …
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Our approach to keeping GOV.UK One Login secure
Explore 5 ways GDS strengthens the security and privacy of GOV.UK One Login, using expert safeguards and ongoing improvements to support trusted access to government services.
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Understanding identity verification for people with significant control (PSCs)
Companies House has introduced new identity verification requirements for people with significant control (PSCs). Find out why, how and when you need to verify if you're a PSC.
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Speculation on local elections
There has been continued speculation in the media about the potential number of areas that may have their local elections postponed this May. To be clear: no decisions have been taken. Councils had until 23:59 tonight (15 January) to submit …
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Governance lessons from the UK-US PETs Pilot for cancer research
The UK-US Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) pilot demonstrates how privacy-by-design can be applied to international data sharing and provides a concrete model for future PETs projects across government. In this blog, we reflect on the governance lessons from the pilot.