7356posts
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5 tips for managing your woodland this summer
Nature Recovery Advisor MacBradan Bones shares his tips on managing your woodland in summer.
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From Whitechapel to the White House
When you make things open, you make things better. GDS Chief Executive Chris Bellamy and Chief of Staff Louise Harris, and cross-government colleagues, were invited by counterparts in Washington DC to have that conversation with a group of global digital leaders. Discover their key highlights in our latest blog post.
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New Towns speculation
There has been inaccurate media reporting regarding the location of the Government’s proposed new towns and resulting concerns raised by local residents. As we made clear last week, the location of these New Towns has not been agreed. The Taskforce …
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With a lot of help from our friends: assembling an England Peat Map
Contributors: Andrew Webb, Principal advisor, England Peat Map. Tom Hunt, Data engagement lead, England Peat Map. Sarah Parrott, Engagement and impact lead advisor, NCEA. Elizabeth Mitchell, Engagement and impact senior advisor, NCEA How do you make a map of something that’s largely underground, …
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When is results day 2024? GCSEs, A levels, T Levels and VTQs
In August, pupils 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 pupils directly to tell them how and …
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Lack of government action could be leaving ineffective or out-of-date regulation on the statute books
The RPC has today published a summary table of the ratings in its opinions on post implementation reviews published over the past few years. This supplements the earlier publication of a summary of its opinions on impact assessments and seeks to enhance the transparency of the Better Regulation Framework.
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GCSE 9–1 grades to uni places: What you need to know about 2024 exam results
Very soon more than 7 million results will be issued to students in England, including over 800,000 results for vocational and technical qualifications. Here are some important things to know about marking, grading and results. When are 2024 results days? …
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Working for DIO in Germany
Hi, I'm Gareth Wilmot and I'm a Senior Estate Surveyor for DIO in Germany. This role is to provide estate surveying and estate management advice throughout Germany on behalf of the UK MOD. This includes land management for NATO Forward …
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An update on SFI and our agri-environment schemes
It's been a while since our last post. We’re glad to be back! Over the past month, we've been welcoming Defra's new ministerial team, who are fully committed to environmental land management schemes. We've been working with them to optimise our schemes and grants for farmers, food security and nature recovery. In this post, we’ll update you on the SFI rollout, provide links to new supplementary scheme guidance and share details on endorsed actions and capital items.
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GOV.UK One Login: A Disclosure and Barring Service Success Story
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) were the first department to partner with GOV.UK One Login, find out about their experience with the programme in this blog.
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The Magic of Heathland Summers: Nightjars, Nature Recovery, and the Future of our Landscapes
Victoria Hawkins, Heathland Connections Nature Recovery Project Senior Advisor, Natural England. Heathland Connections is an inspiring Nature Recovery Project and I feel fortunate to spend the best part of my day working on it. In this post, I want to …
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River vegetation management in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire - reducing flood risk
Abigail Ovenden, Asset Management Engagement Advisor, looks at how the Environment Agency reduces flood risk in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire by cutting vegetation. Environment Agency teams (and contractors on our behalf) manage vegetation and weed growth along 2,210 kilometres of Main …
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GP Pay Award
On Monday 29th July, the Department of Health and Social Care accepted the recommendation of the independent pay review body for doctors and dentists to uplift GP pay by 6%. Here is what it will mean for GP’s pay: What …
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Life as a new user researcher
Read about one of our colleague's journey into the career of User Research.
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Meet the Modern Civil Service: Alexandra Whiteley, Head of Events
Alexandra Whiteley, Head of Events, Cabinet Office, spoke with Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe from the Civil Service Strategy Unit, about what A Modern Civil Service means to her, as well as how large-scale events like Civil Service Live benefit the Civil Service. …
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The Chief Scientist Report: 2023
Professor Sallie Bailey, Chief Scientist at Natural England, tells us about the publication of Natural England’s sixth Chief Scientist Report This Report, the sixth in the series, focusses on the impact our work has and – crucially - how …
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Who’s eligible for the 2024 COVID-19 vaccine, or ‘Autumn Booster’?
A summary of who is eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or autumn booster in 2024. Current vaccines provide good protection against severe disease and hospitalisation, with protection lasting for around 4 months.
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A first step towards evaluating the impacts of the UK’s trade remedies
Today we have published a research report prepared by Grant Thornton UK LLP (Grant Thornton) for the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA). This report explores the toolkit of methodology options that we could use in our evaluation to measure the impacts of …
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Selling woodland or peatland carbon: could it be right for you?
Did you know that if you plant a new woodland or restore peatland, you could sell the carbon benefits? When it comes to carbon, UK buyers are leading the way – so the time to get involved is now.
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Revitalising the Hamble Brook: A new wetland haven in Buckinghamshire
New life has been breathed into Buckinghamshire’s Hamble Brook by a substantial wetland site spanning 2,500 square metres. This work, led by the Chilterns Chalk Streams Project, further extends the largest scheme of its kind involving the Environment Agency, and …
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Working with the Zambia Workers' Compensation Fund
GAD supports the Zambia Workers' Compensation Fund through its actuarial valuation of the Fund every 3 years. In this blog we look at what this involves - such as a valuation of liabilities and assets, and an assessment of contribution rates employers pay.
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Debunking 5 product management myths
Megha Jain, Head of Product, applies her superpowers to bust 5 myths surrounding the product-centric approach in IT infrastructure and operations.
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Expert taskforce to be at the forefront of new towns vision
This week the Deputy Prime Minister set out the Government’s plans for New Towns. There has been extensive national and regional coverage about this, including The Guardian, Sky News, The Independent, Manchester Evening News, and Yorkshire Post. The Housing Minister …
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Bringing new life to Hull’s urban waters
Hull is a city that has long been defined by its relationship with water. Environment Programme Project Manager, Dan Jagucki, talks about an innovative project to bring new life into Hull’s urban waterways. Hundreds of years ago the city and …
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Celebrating Marine Protected Areas Awareness Day
As we celebrate Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Awareness Day, it's fitting that we reflect on the importance of MPAs, the role we play in manging those in English waters and the support we provide internationally to the UK Overseas Territories …
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Exploring the use of artificial intelligence to streamline the planning process
Planning documents often contain vast amounts of valuable information, but accessing and using this data can be challenging. Artificial intelligence offers a potentially promising solution to extract key information and insights, and this post talks about how the Digital Planning Programme is exploring the use of artificial intelligence to streamline the planning process.
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More than you think - how we organise Design System Day
Design System Day 2024 will showcase the breadth of design systems work across our community. Join us as we explore the unsung heroes of the design system.
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Ensuring nuclear reactor designs meet high standards of environmental protection
The Environment Agency’s New Reactors Assessment Team is carrying out assessments of three small modular reactor nuclear power station designs. Andrew Pynn, Senior Advisor for the project, summarises what we have been doing on two of the projects and why. …
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The #PowerofPossibility
On Earth Overshoot Day Matt Bradley explores how we must consider not only the carbon impact of our solutions, products, and services, but also their true planetary effects. Balancing the books: Earth Overshoot Day unpacked Governments and societies worldwide aspire …
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Our plan to get Britain Building again
Yesterday the Deputy Prime Minister launched the new National Planning Policy Framework which will increase housing targets to get Britain building again. We will also begin work today on a generation of new towns. The Deputy Prime Minister has appointed …
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Roundup of OPSS Vacancies
We’re undergoing an exciting period at the OPSS, and there’s never been a better time to join us.
Do you care about the safety of products and want to protect people and places? Can we use your skills, knowledge and experience to enable UK business to thrive? If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you!
We are the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business, and Trade. We are here for the purpose of making regulation work to deliver real world impact. Regulation is a powerful Government tool to address market failures, influence behaviour and promote positive action. Crafted and delivered well, regulation can be an enabler of growth, innovation and efficiency.
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Defence Developer Services (D2S): Launching new offerings for our users
D2S is part of the Defence Digital Foundry and provides products and services that enable the software development community and accelerate the delivery of software and applications. You can find out more information on the D2S Portal. It has been …
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Coverage of rapid review to meet Environment Act targets
Today we’re looking at coverage of the government’s Environmental Improvement Plan announcement.
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How we’re bringing change to water industry performance
The water industry is underperforming, and it needs to change. We know that people want and deserve more for their water environment. We are meeting this challenge head on. We want to be a modern, confident and efficient regulator. To enable …
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Getting ready for the consumer protection changes in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024
New powers for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Today we are publishing our draft rules and procedural guidance covering an important aspect of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) – the new direct consumer enforcement …
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What is a chemistry sample and why does the Environment Agency do them?
My name is Lucy, and I am a Field Monitoring Officer in the National Monitoring Field Team. My role involves collecting water samples from bathing waters and rivers. I take several types of samples but today I am going to …
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Transforming tax: millions now using the HMRC app
If you’re checking your pay, changing jobs, viewing your state pension forecast or claiming Child Benefit, where do you go for the right information? Rather than wading through paperwork or picking up the phone, the HMRC app is becoming a …
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Significant progress made with SMA screening in-service evaluation planning
The latest meeting of the SMA Screening In-service evaluation Partnership Board heard that significant progress had been made with the planning of the newborn screening ISE for spinal muscular atrophy.
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Combatting crime in rural communities
Sgt Dan Goss from Merseyside Police Rural, Wildlife & Heritage Team shares how working collaboratively with the Environment Agency and others is helping to stop waste crime across Merseyside’s rural areas. Merseyside Police is one of the newest forces to …
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How Heat-Health Alerts contribute to keeping the vulnerable safe this summer
This week’s higher temperatures have triggered a yellow Heat-Health Alert, issued for England by the Met Office and UKHSA. While some may question the necessity of such warnings, it's crucial to understand the significant health implications that accompany changes in temperature. In this blog we look at the importance of taking action to protect the most vulnerable in periods of hot weather, even when yellow alerts are issued.