7208posts
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Rising to the Civil Service Challenge of Change
At Civil Service Live, Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case and Civil Service Chief Operating Officer, Alex Chisholm launched the vision for A Modern Civil Service. To kick off our new series, we’ve invited civil servant Shazia Razzaq to share her ideas …
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What we're learning about advice through tests and trials
One of the areas we’re looking at is how much advice and guidance farmers and land managers might need in our new schemes. We’ve got 43 tests and trials exploring this and in this post we’ll share the latest findings.
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Join our North West wellbeing events
Our wellbeing network would like to invite civil servants in the North West to take part in wellbeing events, running from 29 June to 22 July...
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How can I remortgage online?
Find out how we’re making it easier to remortgage online, as well as making history with our Sign your mortgage deed service.
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Engaging with the public about algorithmic transparency in the public sector
Making decisions about individuals is a key responsibility for many parts of the public sector, and there is increasing recognition of the opportunities offered through the use of data and algorithms in this decision-making. But these opportunities will only be …
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Response to Sunday Telegraph splash
The headline of the Telegraph story, “Matt Hancock kept Boris Johnson in dark over Covid vaccines success”, published today (Saturday 19 June) is incorrect, and misrepresents internal processes for data sharing. The information referenced (vaccine effectiveness data against the Delta …
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Response to The Sunday Times article on the cost of cladding remediation
The Sunday Times has today published an article titled “‘Footing the bill for the cladding crisis will cost more than my flat’”. The article uses figures on the cost of remediation from Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) and Institute …
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This year’s school place offers – what the data tells us
This year, 98.4% of pupils starting primary school got one of their preferred choices. The figure for secondary schools was 95.5%.
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We’re hiring more user researchers at GDS
Several user researchers across GDS programmes share their personal experiences and what they're working on right now, as part of the GDS Strategy.
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Can sports days go ahead and will I be able to attend? We answer your questions
Many schools will have broken up for the summer holidays by the time national restrictions ease on 19 July. This means that while schools and colleges will be able to hold the traditional end of term sports day, they may …
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Supporting informed choice in NHS screening – a view from Cancer Research UK
Public Health England Screening asked Cancer Research UK to tell us about their work on informed choice. Sophia Lowes, a health information manager at CRUK, tells us more.
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Government response to the Ella Adoo-Kissi Debrah Coroner’s report
In today’s blog we look at widespread coverage of the government’s response to the Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah Coroner’s report.
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'Green claims' and the CMA
We've found that businesses need guidance to help them understand the best ways to communicate their 'green claims' to customers. That's why we want your views on our draft guidance which sets out 6 principles we think businesses should follow when making environmental claims.
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‘Sitting days’: how are they decided?
The allocation of ‘sitting days’, or the number of days that judges ‘sit’ in court each year to hear cases brought before them, is something that you will likely have heard mentioned in relation to courts and tribunals, particularly around …
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SIREN: One year on
A year ago today we launched SIREN - the world’s biggest real-world study into Covid-19 antibodies. Here are five things that we have learnt from the study so far.
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The G7 comes to Cornwall
Well we can’t let the G7 pass without mentioning all the civil servants from the South West and elsewhere in the UK who got involved in supporting this huge event in our region.
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Why synthetic data could be useful for a government department
Synthetic data could open up possibilities for our department and other government organisations. In our latest blog, lead data scientist Shruti Kohli explains why this is an exciting area of innovation.
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A letter to secondary school and college parents in England on continuing regular Covid-19 testing from Gavin Williamson, Secretary of State for Education
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has today written to secondary school and college parents and guardians in England to talk about the importance of regular testing when it comes to keeping covid out of the classroom.
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Paraffin’s work with global clients has been recognised for its excellence with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade 2021
Paraffin are an award winning capabilities agency. They empower people with capabilities that create positive change and business growth.
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A Modern Civil Service - a new vision, for all of us
You might have heard about the launch of the renewed vision for the Civil Service, A Modern Civil Service, and the Declaration on Government Reform. But what does this mean for the Civil Service and all of us?
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Virtual clinical skills trainers and quality assurance leads (AAA) regional networking events
Register now for a regional AAA networking event in September.
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Meeting policy intent and user needs at the same time
In this post, aimed at product managers, Isabelle Andrews explains how her team adapted impact mapping to help align user and business needs. This technique kept them focused on what matters most.
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UK market access to Japan for poultry exports
There is positive coverage today of the news that the UK has secured market access to Japan for poultry exports.
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My pride in our big family community
Community has the power to lift spirits, promote tolerance and provide acceptance – and James Wand has found it in abundance since joining HM Land Registry this year.
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What students, teachers, parents and carers think and feel about assessments this year in the wake of the pandemic
Foreword by Paul Newton, Ofqual Research Chair. Ofqual has a statutory duty to promote public confidence in regulated qualifications, which means that we need to listen carefully to what people think and feel about them. Never has this obligation been …
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Minister Pow discusses storm overflows with Professor Hammond
This afternoon's blog looks at a meeting between Environment Minister Rebecca Pow and Professor Hammond, former professor at University College London and visiting scientist at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology until December last year.
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Shaping the future of our facilities management
Although 2025 may seem like a long way off, we’ve already started getting DVLA ready to exit one of our most complex contracts when it expires in just under 4 years’ time. It is the agency’s largest contract and on its expiry in 2025 will have run for a period of 20 years. Julia Ashford, FM Futures Programme Lead, tells us more.
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CCC Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk
There’s been extensive coverage of the Climate Change Committee’s Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) report out today, which suggests the nation’s efforts to adapt to climate change is not keeping pace with the impacts of a warming planet and the increased range of climate risks this brings to the UK.
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How Real User Monitoring will improve GOV.UK for everyone
In this blog post we explain how Real User Monitoring (RUM) gives us an understanding of why a page is performing badly and how to fix it.
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Lessons in Leadership
Civil Service award winner Chris Atkinson topped the category for Inspirational Leadership. Below, Chris shares the secrets of his success. When I was asked to write a blog about leadership, I immediately found the spectre of self-doubt raising its ugly …
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Why the CMA is making changes to the funerals sector
The CMA has completed an in-depth market investigation into the funerals sector after concerns were raised that funeral directors were not treating customers fairly. To address these concerns and help consumers during what is often a difficult time, we've issued a legal Order to funeral directors and crematorium operators.
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Negative interest rates: the lowdown
This month we consider why negative interest rates might be chosen and what might happen as a result. In looking at the lowdown, we also examine the impact of negative interest rates and what these mean for consumers and for the banking industry.
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Inequalities consistently addressed in quality assurance visits to local NHS screening services
A national audit of quality assurance visits to local screening services found that SQAS teams consistently address inequalities in visits across all screening programmes.
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Enabling active choices online: Trialling behaviourally informed prototypes
Following publication of our review of online targeting, we began to work with the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) to explore different ways to empower users to make active choices online about their privacy and personalisation settings. We defined “active choices” …
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Boundaryless leadership through role modelling 2021 - an online event
Join us at our online event on 30 June, where we will be exploring aspects of leadership to support your career progression. Sessions will focus on boundaryless leadership, mentoring and positive role modelling.
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Enhancing knowledge and protection: St Helena and the Global Ocean Wildlife Analysis Network
St Helena is an oceanic island located in the tropical South Atlantic. Home to a fantastic array of marine biodiversity, it is one of the ten UK Overseas Territories that are part of the new Global Ocean Wildlife Analysis Network. …
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Tomosynthesis – training requirement update for staff reporting images
The training requirements for staff reporting digital breast tomosynthesis images within the NHS breast screening programme have been revised.
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Secondment opportunities for competition lawyers
We're launching a new round of secondment opportunities for competition lawyers, to start on 1 February 2021. The deadline for applications is Monday 30 November 2020.
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IPA International and the Global Infrastructure Programme: improving infrastructure project preparation worldwide
Tom Hill, IPA International Infrastructure Analyst, reflects on IPA International Team's achievements through the Global Infrastructure Programme (GIP) over the past few years.
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Emily Miles’ stakeholder update - consumer insights, regulatory reform, and World Food Safety Day
FSA Chief Executive Emily Miles discusses World Food Safety Day, gives an update on the FSA’s regulatory reform programme, and reflects on the latest consumer insight.