8431posts
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Artificial Intelligence: must-have skills for the future
Discover how to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence with the latest online courses by CDDO.
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Digital Planning Programme: our year in review
In this blog the Digital Planning team review the programme’s highlights from 2024. From increased data collection to developing new tools, collaboration to innovation, the team has worked alongside Local Planning Authorities, the planning community and other colleagues in government to make planning faster, data-driven, and more citizen-friendly.
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What winter bug do I have? Know the signs and symptoms
We see cases of flu, RSV, COVID-19 and norovirus throughout the year, but in winter they circulate at the same time and can reach high levels. We also track other respiratory viruses – rhinovirus, adenovirus, human metapneumovirus (hMPV) and parainfluenza …
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Explaining easements – making the correct applications
Easements – the rights enjoyed by one landowner over land owned by another – are an important legal interest and a complex area of land law. Ensuring you make the correct applications should mean you avoid many of the most serious difficulties that can arise.
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Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning – Future Challenges and Opportunities
This post is the final blog in a series on privacy-preserving federated learning. The series is a collaboration between the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA) and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Learn more and read all …
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Understanding Arm's Length Bodies: a fresh look at Britain's Public Sector
Ever wondered who runs our driving licences, maintains our railways, or keeps our food standards in check? Chances are, it's an arm's length body (ALB). This week, we're excited to share our newly published interactive Arm's Length Bodies Landscape analysis, …
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Update on the deaths of three tagged hen harriers
Hen harriers remain rare in England, with a welcome increase in their population over the last few years stalling in 2024. Poor weather and food availability may cause their numbers to fluctuate, but ongoing illegal killing remains a serious threat …
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The outcome of the consultation on Annex A of the JFS has been published today
Today we’ve published the Government response to the consultation proposing amendments to Annex A of the Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS).
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Designing a style guide for Defra content designers
Senior content designer Louisa Mallon describes how her team planned and created a Defra style guide.
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Stakeholder update: December 2024's FSA Board meeting
Cymraeg It was the final FSA Board meeting of the year last week and we were able to catch up on a number of important issues that have been on our minds. We had an update to September’s Board discussion …
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Reflections on 2024 and looking ahead to 2025
As 2024 draws to a close, let’s reflect on what a year it has been. The work that colleagues across adult social care have done this year has been phenomenal. Millions of people have benefited from dedicated professionals who work …
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Belfast's growing digital community: A collaborative and innovative environment
Discover the digital opportunities of working for DBT in Belfast.
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FiPL Spotlight: Meadow Match, Cornwall's wildflower seed dating service
In this guest post, Seán O’Hea shines a light on Cornwall National Landscape's Farming in Protected Landscape project.
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Living England: a national habitat map for everyone
Amy Woodget is the Communications and Engagement Lead for the Living England project. In this post, she introduces the latest release of Natural England’s ‘Living England’ dataset – a digital map providing information on England’s broad habitats.
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NHS England starts detailed implementation planning for tyrosinaemia screening
Detailed planning work under way for implementation of newborn screening for tyrosinaemia in England.
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Defra response to OEP investigation into regulation of network combined sewer overflows
Government takes swift action to strengthen regulation to tackle sewage discharges, as the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) announces next steps in their investigation into the regulation of network combined sewer overflows.
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English Devolution White Paper launch
Following the publication of the English Devolution White Paper there has been speculative media coverage that proposals around local government reorganisation including that this could potentially delay local elections in some areas with smaller district councils being replaced by larger …
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One word, endless opportunities: Discover our Graduate Scheme
Unlock your potential: Graduates describe our program in one word
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What GDS has found from public sector accessibility monitoring
Find out what our team found from the last 3 years of monitoring the accessibility of public sector websites and mobile apps.
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Coverage following announcement that water companies must double compensation for service failures
There has been widespread coverage of the Government announcement that water companies will be forced to double the compensation paid to customers for service failures. The Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS) will see new, improved, and compulsory payments in the event …
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Shark Plan: Conserving Sri Lankan sharks, rays and chimaeras through the Ocean Country Partnership Programme
The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) collaboration with Sri Lanka on shark, ray and chimaera conservation through the Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP) was furthered in mid-November with a UK visit from the Sri Lankan Director General and …
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Transforming our understanding of flood and coastal erosion risk in England
Julie Foley, Director of Flood Risk Strategy and Adaptation Understanding of flood and coastal erosion risk is vital to ensuring that policy makers, practitioners and communities are ready to adapt to a changing climate. The Environment Agency is required to …
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The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill: what parents need to know
The new Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill - sometimes referred to as the Children's Wellbeing Bill - introduces a wide variety of measures to help children and families, from school reform and home education to safeguarding. But how will this …
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Permitted development rights
There has been some press coverage over the weekend relating to permitted development rights. There is a suggestion in an article that PDRs could have been banned in the recent update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) last week. …
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75th Anniversary of the National Parks Act: New legislation to ensure Protected Landscapes are fit for the future
Today is the 75th anniversary of the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act. Read how the government is marking the occasion by empowering our Protected Landscapes.
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Seascapes project: New Year 1 reports published as part of Marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme
By Frances Mynott and Clement Garcia, Cefas leads for the mNCEA programme. Our understanding of the benefits that our marine and coastal environments provide are improving through the Marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (mNCEA) programme. Started in 2022, mNCEA is …
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Take part in a consultation on guidance used by the water companies when they draft their new drought plans
Our changing climate means we could see more frequent and severe weather events, including droughts, in the coming years. We cannot predict when, or how severe, the next drought will be, but we can ensure we learn from previous drought …
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Homes for Ukraine: applying digital principles and innovation to respond to a crisis rapidly at scale
Find out how MHCLG has applied digital ways of working, collaboration and innovation to enable Ukrainians to enter the UK to find suitable accommodation and support through the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.
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Big data, tiny microbes: environmental DNA in action
All living things, from bacteria to blue whales, have DNA in their cells. DNA provides the blueprint for life, directing how organisms grow, reproduce, and live. Since DNA gives a unique genetic code for every species on Earth, we can …
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New fisheries management measures come into force today
Measures are coming into effect to implement actions in the first published fisheries management plans. Find out details of the measures in our new blog post.
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Start your school day right - the benefits of breakfast clubs
Headteacher Mrs Ash McGann shares Burton Green Primary School’s experience of being part of the Healthy Breakfast club pilot scheme and the benefits it’s brought to the whole school.
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Explaining more about the top 10 driving test faults: our webinar recap
Amanda Lane and Graham O'Brien recap our recent webinar about the top 10 driving test faults and answer questions that were not covered during the live webinar.
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Early Career Ocean Professionals at the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance (AAORIA)
Written by Parvathi Vallivattathillam, National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Lianne Harrison, Cefas and Francesca D'Enno, Defra. The All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance (AAORIA) is a science diplomacy effort which unites twelve countries across the Atlantic to strengthen and foster collaborative …
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More projects improving the environment through nature market initiatives
More projects improving the environment through nature market initiatives Today we hosted our Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF) Round 3 grantees at the University of Warwick for a dedicated networking and learning day. This fund is one of the …
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The ILACS framework – what’s changing and why?
In December 2024, we updated the inspecting local authority children's services (ILACS) framework. This blog will discuss why we’re making these changes, the reviews that informed them, and how we are responding to your feedback. Why we updated the framework …
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Sustainable festivities: how you can reduce your waste this Christmas
The festive period is a time to celebrate and enjoy decorating trees, giving gifts and eating lots of delicious food. But all of this can have an impact on the environment. In this post, the Environment blog team will share actions you can take to enjoy festivities sustainably.
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Celebrating 75 years of the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act
By Marian Spain, Chief Executive, Natural England We know now that access to nature is vital for our health and wellbeing, and when we feel a connection with nature, we’re more likely to care for it and help its recovery. …
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Making it quicker and easier to search on GOV.UK
We’ve made some changes to the interface of site search on GOV.UK to create a simpler, more user-friendly experience.
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Portsmouth’s New Emergency Department Opens with support from Defence Medical Services personnel
The transition to a state-of-the-art Emergency Department (ED) at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth was successfully completed on 26 November 2024, thanks to an innovative collaboration between Defence Medical Services (DMS) personnel and NHS staff. The seamless move was …
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Magic Maps: change to service platform
What is MAGIC? The ‘Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside’ (MAGIC) service has been around since 2002. The MAGIC website provides geographic information about the natural environment from across government. The information covers rural, urban, coastal and marine environments across …