GOV.UK blogs

It’s time for a new ONS website platform

Martin O'Brian, Deputy Director Digital Delivery, provides an update on the work to deliver a new platform and content for ONS.GOV.UK

Enabling Technologies Programme: Advanced and Novel Space Instruments

The UK Space Agency's Enabling Technologies Programme is helping push the frontiers of instrumentation in space science, engineering and applications.

Inspectors tackling wildlife crime

By Samantha Johnson-Roberts, Natural England Wildlife Inspector Background There aren't many jobs that combine tackling crime with protecting species like dormice and otters, but here at Natural England there are 46 of us and I'm lucky enough to be one …

How the National Education Nature Park is helping young people restore and support nature

To mark the COP29 conference, the Defra Environment blog team will share nature stories throughout the week, starting with a post about the National Education Nature Park.

Public Consultation on the International Council for Harmonisation ICH E6 (R3) Guideline for Good Clinical Practice Annex-2

As a GCP Inspector at the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), I thought it would be useful to inform you that Annex 2 of the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) E6 Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Guideline has …

Planet hunting and meteor spotting: the night sky in November 2024

November is a great month to see the planets of our Solar System, meteor showers, and the Andromeda Galaxy.

Changes to sanctions legislation introduced through the Sanctions (EU Exit) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No.2) Regulations 2024 

On 14 November 2024, the Sanctions (EU Exit) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No.2) Regulations 2024 was laid in Parliament. This instrument introduces the following changes to sanctions legislation:  Taken together, these changes will collectively improve the ability of HM Treasury’s Office of …

Response to reporting on council tax

There has been speculation and media coverage on upcoming levels of council tax. The government has confirmed it will be continuing the previous government’s policy of a core council tax cap of 3%, and an additional 2% for local authorities …

A consistent approach to Pupil Premium to improve outcomes for all

Headteacher Jamie Whiteside and pupil premium lead Hannah Smith tell us how they use pupil premium funding to improve outcomes for all pupils at St Clare’s.  

What happened at a canal in Uxbridge?

With deaths of wild swans increasing over part of the Grand Union canal in Uxbridge with no obvious cause, thoughts turned to a disease that is notoriously difficult to identify. Read more about how our Veterinary Investigation Officers uncovered the cause of these mysterious deaths.

Responding to operational pressures   

The criminal justice system has been under pressure for some time, but with early preparation and the increased use of video technology, our resilient court system kept justice moving, even in the most challenging circumstances.

How can we test our designs with Welsh-speaking users?

How to add a Welsh language toggle to your prototypes so you can better test with Welsh users.

Flashy crabs turn up in Brighton!

A colourful crab with white and orange claws and blue legs recently turned up (dead) in Brighton in the summer. After a second one was found this October (alive), the alarm was raised. These pretty, but out of place crabs …

RPC publishes Corporate Report for 2023-24

We have today published the RPC Corporate Report for 2023-24. The report summarises trends in our opinions on Impact Assessments (IAs) and Post Implementation Reviews (PIRs). It highlights a decline in the quality of analysis by government departments – with only 59% …

Online consultation events, factsheets and video now available

Book your place on one of our online consultation events- If you can’t make one of our in-person events, this is your chance to give your feedback of the five FMPs being consulted on.

Factsheets and an overview video are now available for these five FMPs - find them on this blog post!

We are simplifying the registration of personal covenants 

We are standardising references to personal covenants, with documents available for immediate download via the portal.

Supplementary codes: enhancing trust framework rules where needed

What supplementary codes are We’ve designed the trust framework to be as flexible as possible, so it shows what good digital identity services look like right across the UK economy.  But in some areas, those who rely on digital identity …

Assessing the viability of housing development sites  

How to speed up the pace of housing delivery? By appraising potential development sites in minutes, not months. So says co-founder of Viability, Henry Mayell.

West Penwith Moors and Downs (Halow ha Gonyow Pennwydh West) SSSI – an update on nature recovery in West Cornwall

By Julian Donald – Natural England Senior Officer for West Penwith Moors and Downs The prosperity and wellbeing of the people of Cornwall relies on a healthy natural environment with farming, fishing and tourism driving the local economy. This blog …

Keeping ICT Sustainability on the agenda

Chris Howes shares his hopes for this year’s COP event and the opportunities it might bring to help us drive digital transformation.     It’s that time of year again when climate change and sustainability rise to the top of the …

How geospatial AI can help inform our land use choices 

Mehul Doshi, Head of Land Use Programme, explains the role geospatial AI is playing in helping to address land use challenges. The UK has finite land that is under increasing pressure.  To meet our energy, housing, and food security needs, …

National Engineering Day 2024

Today is National Engineering Day and this year the focus is on making the UK’s engineers and engineering more visible, and to celebrate how they improve everyday lives and shape the world around us. One such engineer is James Ryan, …

Understanding climate change risk to Namibia’s diverse fisheries sectors

In this Q&A, Georg Engelhard Principal Marine Climate Change and Fisheries Scientist at Cefas, discusses a new One Ocean Hub paper titled “Climate risk assessment of the fisheries in Namibia” and its associated policy paper. It is the outcome of …

Our enforcement options to stop waste criminals

To carry out our regulatory responsibilities to protect the environment, we have a range of powers at our disposal. The severity of waste crimes varies greatly and our response to each incident is proportionate to the permit breach or offence …

From AI to underwater microphones: improving the evidence base for marine mammals 

By Samantha Parker and Emma Milner, Natural England marine mammal senior specialists  Why are seal population numbers changing so fast along our coasts? How are porpoise feeding patterns changing as our seas become increasingly crowded? And how does the health …

Coverage following launch of consultation on bathing waters reform

Today we are looking at media coverage following the launch of our consultation on Bathing Water reforms.

GOV.UK One Login: celebrating 50 services 

50 services are using GOV.UK One Login for authentication and identity verification for millions of users.

Natalie Jones OBE, Director of Digital Identity at the Government Digital Service, reflects on this milestone in our latest blog post.

Evidence to support your Council Tax band challenge

We look at the evidence you need to support a Council Tax band challenge.

The benefits of mosses, liverworts and lichen

Find out how these often-overlooked plants play their part in woodland ecosystems.

Reporting water pollution to get easier with new online service 

We’re piloting a new digital service to provide more ways for the public to report environmental problems.  Public reporting of water pollution, odours, flooding or wildlife concerns is an important way that we are alerted to environmental incidents.  Our national …

Reflections on Biodiversity Net Gain: 9 months after going live

In this post, Rachel Fisher, Deputy Director for the Land Use policy team at Defra, shares her reflections on Biodiversity Net Gain 9 months after the policy went live for major developments.

Data Pipeline Challenges of Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning

This post is part of 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 the posts …

Designing a user-centred cyber assessment service for local government

We’re taking an iterative, user-centred design approach to building and introducing the cyber assessment service for local government.

Understanding the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) rotational actions declaration

There are some Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) actions in the SFI 2023 offer which are ‘rotational’. As explained in the handbook for the SFI 2023 offer, in the second or third year of an SFI agreement these rotational SFI actions …

Birds of a Feather: Restoring Habitats for seabirds in the Solent

Jessica Taylor, Marine and Coastal Senior Officer at Natural England, talks about some of the work the Thames Solent team are doing to support our breeding seabirds in the Solent. Located on the New Forest coastline, our North Solent NNR …

How generative AI is accelerating outcomes in DBT

How our Redbox trial showed us how generative AI can improve our ways of working.

Timely detection of thousands of cancers underlines benefits of a national lung cancer screening programme

More than 5,000 lung cancers have been detected since the launch of the Targeted Lung Health Check programme, which will become a national lung cancer screening programme.

Harnessing Innovative Technology for Nature-Based Solutions in Norfolk & Suffolk

In celebration of World Science Day (10th November), we’re taking a look at the surprising ways Natural England uses technology in its day-to-day operations. In Norfolk & Suffolk, a number of projects are using innovative technology to improve efficiency and …

Using AI to apply for Digital jobs 

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should…..why you should be careful in your use of AI when applying. 

Celebrating 10 years of DVLA’s STEM programme

Our STEM volunteer programme turns 10 this year. STEM ambassadors Mark Jones and Karen Pitt look back on the programme’s success.