7305posts
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The night sky in January
This month there is a chance to see all of the planets in our Solar System, as well as the Pleiades star cluster, Andromeda galaxy, and a comet!
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Dragons' Den Episode 2 Series 20
From ‘Instagramable’ pooch parties to plus size clothing, this week’s Dragons’ Den was packed full of highs and lows - for both the Dragons and the entrepreneurs.
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Democracy, Design and Public Policy: potential and pitfalls
Professor Lucy Kimbell from Central Saint Martins, University of London invites colleagues to join our next AHRC Design and Policy Network event on Friday 17 February 2023.
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Beware of cyber criminals who are preying on legal aid providers
In an uncertain world, organisations need to be fully equipped to counter online attacks, writes Scott C* from the National Cyber Security Centre. Ransomware attacks are a huge risk for law firms, which have already suffered from online criminals. This …
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Reflections on diversity from my experience as EMWF sponsor
This blog is authored by Sir Patrick Vallance, Government Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the GSE Profession. Let me start by addressing the obvious. I am writing as the sponsor of the Ethnic Minority Women’s Forum (EMWF), but …
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Tried and tested tips for reducing requisitions
Enact Conveyancing has worked closely with HM Land Registry to reduce its requisition rate by more than a third. Enact’s Remortgage Support Manager, Alan Connor-Clark, talks about the new approach and process changes which are helping them get it ‘right the first time'.
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DIT's Data Workspace - all our data, in one place
Data Workspace is a DIT platform providing one place for our people to find data they need. They can search, view and analyse it, all in one place.
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Why teaching is a rewarding career
Teaching is a job like no other. It’s unique in combining a rich range of professional skills with creativity, excitement and personal satisfaction – and a sense of making a real difference to the lives of children. Teaching is a …
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The Digital Excellence Programme
In our latest blog, you can read about the Digital Excellence Programme, specifically designed for current and aspiring Senior Civil Servants. Find out about the programme, and be part of the change by signing up for the pilot courses starting in February 2023.
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Track our progress: Trade Remedies Authority case milestones – Jan 2023
Subscribe below to receive the latest update on our interactive case tracker, which shows the progress of each of our cases as they go through the investigation lifecycle. This month’s tracker shows progress on our cases during December and the …
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The eagle has landed: rare bird returns to Lulworth Ranges
The white-tailed eagle or sea eagle is Britain’s largest bird of prey, and was once widespread along the south coast of England before being driven to extinction by human persecution. To restore this lost species, Forestry England and the Roy …
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The deadline for primary school applications is Sunday 15 January: Here’s what you need to know
Sunday 15 January is the deadline for primary school applications. Parents with children due to start school in September 2023 need to go through their local authority to apply for places at their chosen primary schools.
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COVID-19 testing for people arriving from China
A sample of passengers travelling from China into London’s Heathrow Airport will be invited to take a PCR test for COVID-19 on arrival. These tests will help us to better understand any variants that may be present in any positive …
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Designing services to help employers support disabled employees
We sat down with DWP Digital's Sarah Bradley and the Opencast team to discover the ways employers can support their disabled employees.
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Jim's journey as a case administrator
The Probation Service can really benefit from welcoming staff with varied life and work experiences. We talk to Jim who, after a long career outside of the Probation Service, joined us as a case administrator. Tell us a bit about …
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At home I am 1, at work I am 3500
Dr Jo Jolly, Deputy Director and Head of Project Futures at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) discusses the importance of delivering the best outcomes for our environment and economy. Nick Smallwood’s recent blog on the progress being made to …
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Building on leadership with the Florence Nightingale Foundation
Social care deputy care home manager, Emily Pimm, had never heard of the Florence Nightingale Foundation Leadership Scholarship programme before, but after a discussion with a friend about helping people understand the impact of coronavirus restrictions on care homes during the pandemic, she decided the scholarship would be a way to get her voice heard.
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National coverage of new biosecurity strategy to protect food security, trade and plant health
Today we are looking at media coverage of new action plan to protect food security, trade and plant health
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Changes to OBS: how they affect driving instructors and businesses
Earlier this year I updated you on our progress on what we are doing to tackle businesses who are buying large amounts of tests and selling them for a profit. The purpose of ‘book and manage your pupils’ test …
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MP Roundtable with the RPA: Dr Neil Hudson MP (Penrith and The Border)
We held our 14th MP Roundtable event on 2 December with Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border, at the Penrith Rugby Club. RPA Directors Sandy Kapila and Rozanne Kidd, and senior managers from RPA and Defra met with …
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Buying energy and energy efficiency goods and services
In this blog post, Dan Baker, Schools Commercial Team Category Lead, gives an overview of the DfE support available to help you buy energy and energy efficiency goods and services for your school.
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A hitchhiker’s guide to floating marine debris
Today we are looking at media coverage of our announcement on new research led by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) and funded by Defra that sheds new light on invasive species ‘hitchhiking’ across the sea on floating marine debris.
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How we ran a 1 day design sprint to help users understand visa options
In this post designers share how they designed and ran a 1 day design sprint, and what they learned along the way.
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How much radioactive waste is there in the UK?
NDA National Waste Inventory Manager James Woodfield explains why it's so vital to catalogue all the UK's different kinds of radioactive waste.
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How we’re delivering equality, diversity and inclusion
Georgia Smith, Lead HR Business Partner at the Planning Inspectorate reflects on the recent release of Inspectorate diversity statistics.
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Improve your writing with this simple ABC
Working on projects for most government departments, at Design102, we see the most common issues – and understand how small changes can bring big improvements. This ABC covers the three most common issues in government writing and how to easily overcome them.
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Introducing You To...
Hi, I’m Elise and I’m an Organisational Capability Advisor within the RPA based in our Exeter office. I’ve worked at RPA since 2017, starting as a temporary staff member processing applications to the Basic Payments Scheme. I then went …
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A new accessibility strategy for the GOV.UK Design System
A design system can be tricky to make accessible, with its many parts and users. We’ve made an accessibility strategy to help increase our chance of success.
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Getting ready to regulate supported accommodation
We’re fast approaching the time when we can accept applications to register as supported accommodation providers. This is a whole new area of work for Ofsted, providing important regulatory safeguards for children. Over the last year, we’ve been busy getting ready – recruiting inspectors, developing our registration guidance (due to be published soon), and planning ahead for beginning inspections in 2024.
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Using robots to teach basic programming with North-East school students.
This post explores how HMRC is using robots to encourage school girls in the North East of England to think about coding and to develop their STEM or related skills.
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Dragons' Den Episode 1 Series 20
New year brings high hopes, exciting beginnings, and a gripping new series of Dragons Den. Welcome back to all our readers as we kick off series 20 with our five favourite investors. I can’t quite believe Dragons’ Den has reached …
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Helping exporters through joined up data
Using the Export Support Service to help exporters through joined up data.
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Improving Countryside Stewardship content on GOV.UK
The beginning of a new year is always an important time for the Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme, and this is reflected in the number of farmers visiting the scheme pages on GOV.UK. At RPA, we know farmers don’t have the …
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The SI just got bigger: the recent expansion to the range of SI prefixes
By Richard Brown, Head of Metrology at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) The International System of Units (SI) is the only system of measurement units accepted worldwide. Its study, curation and development are at the heart of National Metrology Institutes’ …
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Avoiding the simple errors that cause delays
We’re seeing too many avoidable errors on applications, causing a bottleneck that is leading to weeks of delays on applications. Help us overcome this.
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Measuring our Justice Digital Story
The Justice Digital 2025 Strategy was published earlier this year to provide a common direction of how we transform our services and deliver great outcomes for our users. This is our vision, providing simpler, faster and better services for all …
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Introducing SFI Management Payments and changes to Countryside Stewardship rates
In this, the first blog post of the year, I’d like to share two updates with you and explain the rationale behind them. The first update is a change to Countryside Stewardship payment rates. The second is the introduction of the Sustainable Farming Incentive Management Payment.
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Your business data and how we protect business confidentiality
Data drives decision-making for international trade and business decisions. It is the lubricant that oils the wheels of trade and fuels the core of the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA). At the same time, we’ve previously written about transparency being imperative …
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Capital Grants 2023
Since we posted this blog on 5th January we have listened to feedback from farmers and landowners and have now amended the scope of the updated payment rates to allow more farmers to benefit from the higher rates. Changes to …
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Putting BATUS to bed: how we prepare the British Army’s Canada estate for the winter
The British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) in Canada is home to one of the largest training estates that the British Army operates on, and it is used to deliver some of the most complex and testing training exercises that …