7597posts
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Join RPA at agricultural shows this Summer and Autumn
RPA travels around the country throughout the year to attend a variety of agricultural shows. Our presence at these events allows us to have valuable face-to-face contact with a wide range of farmers, gaining their insight and feedback on existing …
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Coverage on dangerous dogs
There has been continued coverage on dangerous dogs, including in The Mirror as part of their Time for Action on Dangerous Dogs campaign. The campaign calls for a ‘Jack Lis Law’, named in honour of the 10-year-old tragically killed by a dog.
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Pollution prevention visit Northamptonshire
In my role as an Environment Officer in the Lincolnshire land and water team I cover a range of topics from abstraction licenses to inspecting sewage treatment works and attending incidents.
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How we are ensuring young people have access to great music education
This post was updated on 12/06/2023 Learning about music and having the opportunity to play musical instruments and make music together is a vital part of a rich and rounded education. It has been proven that music plays a key …
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How are Ofsted inspections changing?
Ofsted has announced changes to how school inspections are carried out to reduce pressures on teachers and school leaders. Ofsted provides independent, up to date evaluations on the quality of education, behaviour, personal development, safeguarding, and leadership, which schools and …
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How we are supporting mental health services in England
The government is dedicated to improving the nation’s mental health and wellbeing, particularly for people who experience worse outcomes than the general population. This is how we are transforming mental health services in England. How is the government investing in …
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Finding new and improved ways of solving problems with code - a conversation with ONS Data Scientists
Our latest intake for Data Scientists has just gone live and it's a great opportunity to join a leading organisation in the Data Science field where you'll work on critical projects producing statistics for the public good. We ask Jeb and Vondy, two of our Data Scientists, about the role, the work, the ONS and why you should consider a career with us.
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Summer days and night-shining clouds: The night sky in June
The summer solstice falls on 21 June, marking the start of astronomical summer. Despite the shorter nights, there are many wonderful sights to look out for this month.
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When is results day 2023? GCSEs, A levels, T Levels and VTQs
In August, students in England will find out their results for GCSEs, A levels, T Levels and VTQ (vocational technical qualifications) exams. Ahead of results day, schools, colleges and assessment centres should contact students directly to tell them how and …
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Studland Bay: Why you need a licence to search for seahorses
It was great to see coverage of the conservation efforts at Studland Bay on BBC’s Springwatch programme (episode 7) recently. The show, which aired on 7 June, highlighted the need to protect the area’s precious seagrass – home to protected …
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Showcasing the NDA group's decommissioning expertise on an international stage
From Professor Melanie Brownridge, NDA Technology and Innovation Director Last month I attended the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Conference on Nuclear Decommissioning in Vienna. The event brought together around 450 decommissioning experts from around the world to discuss achievements, …
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GSE Leadership Values: Collaboration
As a science leader, one of the key skills you need is the ability to collaborate with others. At the heart of this, you need to be a great communicator; someone who can explain complex information that can be understood …
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Spotlight on: DDaT Data Analysts
A chance for the Data Analysts to meet in person and have our first team day of 2023.
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September secondment opportunities for competition and consumer lawyers
We are launching a new round of secondment opportunities for lawyers, to start on 18 September 2023.
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Carers Week 2023: crunching the numbers...
Emily Holzhausen OBE, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Carers UK, believes we need to think and plan differently for people with unpaid caring responsibilities. Carers Week is an opportunity to look at the scale of caring responsibilities and consider how to we can create more effective support for carers.
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Accelerating the adoption of Digital Citizen Engagement tools in planning: insights from DLUHC’s PropTech Innovation Fund
As part of the wider DLUHC Digital Planning programme, Round 2 of the PropTech Innovation Fund was launched in March 2022 working with 36 LPA partners and 20 Property Technology (PropTech) companies to accelerate the adoption of digital tools and services in the planning process. Discover more about key insights from funded projects in this blog post.
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Ofsted's webinars for schools - summer season
We're happy to invite you to hear directly from Ofsted in our summer webinars. We wanted to start by thanking everyone who attended or watched our schools webinars in spring. So far this year we've hosted webinars looking at: EIF …
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Celebrating World Ocean Day 2023: Building Partnerships for Planet Ocean
World Ocean Day is an annual event celebrated on 08 June that not only serves as a day of observance but also fosters collaboration and encourages year-round conservation action. This global celebration unites individuals and organisations from around the world, …
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Top tips: Have everything to hand and pay attention
Next in our series of customer case studies is Midlands firm Johnson Astills. Head of the Property Team Gina Payne tells us about their approach to preparing and submitting applications.
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Carers Week 2023: a personal perspective from Fatima Khan-Shah
This week is Carers Week (5-11 June) when Carers UK and others are seeking to raise awareness of the UK’s estimated 5.7 million unpaid carers looking after older, disabled or ill relatives or friends. We're delighted to welcome back unpaid carer representative and dedicated champion of their cause, Fatima Khan-Shah, with this personal take on Carers Week.
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Why volunteering is good news for the social care workforce
Building on the success of the NHS's volunteering initiative in healthcare settings, the Government has now expanded the scheme into social care - forming a joint NHS and Care Volunteer Responders Programme. Care providers can now ask volunteers to help people in their local areas...
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Sharing the HMCTS change framework across government
Our business architecture team is sharing knowledge and learning from its work on the HMCTS Reform Programme with other public sector bodies.
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How good content design makes it easier to move jobs across government
Chris Spencer, Content Designer, Government People Group, shares how his team used informed content design to make it easier for civil servants to move departments. Approximately 24,000 civil servants transfer between government departments every year. However, the current process is …
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How we're increasing productivity and enhancing nature on our farm
In the latest in our series of films from the Lake District, we visit Miller Farming in Penruddock. Upland farmers, Garry and Hazel Miller, have sheep, cows, and free-range hens. They talk about how they’ve increased productivity and enhanced nature at the same time.
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From principles to practice: Launching the Portfolio of AI Assurance techniques
Today, we are pleased to announce the launch of DSIT’s Portfolio of AI Assurance Techniques. The portfolio features a range of case studies illustrating various AI assurance techniques being used in the real-world to support the development of trustworthy AI. …
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Working with Dorset farmers to become some of the most nitrogen efficient in the UK
The Environment Agency has been working with the local farming community on a unique and innovative nutrient cap-and-trading scheme to address nitrate water pollution from farmers in Poole Harbour.
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Celebrating our unsung hero
This week we celebrated Volunteers Week and sat down with Vitalij to find out about his outstanding volunteering helping people fleeing the Ukrainian war.
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Government plans to tackle obesity in England
*Updated 2 February 2024* Obesity costs the NHS around £6.5 billion a year and is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer. Over one in four (26%) adults and 23.4% of children aged 10-11 years in England are living with …
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Jack’s role on the PRISM LGBT+ Network at HMRC
Alongside his role as a Data Utilisation Lead, Jack is a member of our PRISM LGBT+ network which offers support, raises awareness and helps make HMRC a truly inclusive place to work. We caught up with Jack to find out …
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Work that touches everyone: being a user researcher at Defra
Senior User Researcher Clare Hussey reflects on why she loves her work, and why she feels compelled to stay at Defra.
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Carers Week: recognising we are all carers
It’s Carers Week (5-11 June), an opportunity to not only ‘recognise and support unpaid carers in the community’ (this year’s theme), but also reflect on our personal and professional relationships to caring.
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How content design and teamwork contributed to Countryside Stewardship
On World Environment Day we hear how colleagues from the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) worked with content designers from the Defra farming content team to improve the scheme guidance on GOV.UK, ahead of the launch of this year’s Countryside Stewardship (CS) schemes.
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Carers Week and our role in building support
This year’s theme for Carers Week, ‘recognising and supporting carers in the community’, really chimes with me, especially after my recent visit to Sefton Carers Centre in Merseyside.
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Updating your land details
Providing timely land mapping updates when applying for agri-environment schemes will ensure you receive timely and accurate payments. You need to update your land details as soon as there’s a change as, unlike the Basic Payment Scheme, you’re unable to …
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Odin Vision: Revolutionising healthcare through cloud and AI medical devices
In 2019, Odin Vision was one of five start-ups selected to take part in the UK Space Agency’s ‘Space to Innovate’ programme, which supports the development of innovative solutions using space technology.
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LJ Hugs - Street food business that sees the kitchen as their stage
We spoke to Lewis, founder of LJ Hugs, a Cajun Street food business operating in Bath and Bristol for our Here to Help series.
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Useful tips from a user researcher on boosting collaboration
Do you want your multidisciplinary team to work better together? Then this post is for you. Here, user researcher, Costa Christou, shares his top tips on how you can aid collaboration within your team.
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The Clucking Pig - Serving scotch eggs from Sunderland to Sandringham
We spoke to David from The Clucking Pig about his experience of running a food business and how he ensures his business is keeping consumers safe. This blog is part of our Here to Help series.
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Putting growth at the heart of GOV.UK’s strategy
GOV.UK has ambitious plans to grow its product offer, reach more people and meet more user needs. Read on to find out what the team is working towards and the programme’s new objectives.
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Tackling the metal pollution legacy of Britain’s mining history
Metal mines played a major part in Britain’s history, but these abandoned mines are the largest source of metals to our rivers and seas which can seriously harm aquatic life such as fish and river-flies. Hugh Potter, the Environment Agency’s Water and Abandoned Metal Mines lead, looks at the action being taken to address the legacy.