7282posts
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Nutrient neutrality coverage continued
Today there has been coverage in the Times newspaper inaccurately claiming that Natural England’s rules have prevented developers from building thousands of homes.
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Our early years curriculum roadshows on the education inspection framework (EIF)
We’re on the final stretch of our journey around the country delivering our early years curriculum roadshows on the education inspection framework (EIF). Now seems a good time to look at how far we’ve come and where we’re going to …
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5 things you need to know about being a prison officer
Starting out as a prison officer 35 years ago, Dawn progressed up the ranks to governor, a role she’s held in several prisons. She shares her thoughts and reflections on working as a prison officer, how it’s changed over the …
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Delegated healthcare activities: the principles of great care
What’s your definition of high quality care and support? Safe? Consistent? Person-centred? It is all those things. Deborah Sturdy, Chief Nurse fort Adult Social Care, celebrates the publication of ‘Delegated healthcare activities: guiding principles for health and social care in England’, giving social care colleagues enhanced tools to deliver the very best care.
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Supporting tenant farmers: our response to the Rock Review
The Tenancy Working Group was set up to review how government could better support the tenanted sector. Chaired by Baroness Rock, the group published its findings in the Rock Review. Today, we published our response on GOV.UK.
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ACE Research Network: Growing further together
ACE brought together government customers, academics and businesses from across the northwest at the first of a series of events designed to extend the regional reach of our research network.
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Trade economics at the TRA – a quick tour behind the scenes
You may be wondering what an Economist does when it comes to trade remedies and whether this role is for you. Here’s an insight into what it is like working as an Economist at the TRA. Economic analysis and trade …
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Demand for wireless connectivity: addressing a complex and uncertain future
“Wireless connectivity has become increasingly critical for different aspects of our lives, from keeping in touch, to getting around, to accessing a range of important services.” - Sir Patrick Vallance, former Government Chief Scientific Adviser. The Department for Science, Innovation …
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Part III: One Year On, Where To Next?
When we set out our digital strategy a year ago we, somewhat unusually, started from the bottom and summed up the impact of a lot of in-flight work and over 40 individual strategies. This isn’t the way that you might …
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Ensuring sustainable decommissioning of nuclear sites
James Heavingham from our Nuclear Regulation team writes about the growth in the Environment Agency’s role regulating decommissioning and clean up, as old nuclear facilities are shut down and sites cleaned up to a point where regulation is no longer …
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Help us to review productivity and slurry grant items
The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund supports the purchase of equipment, technology, and infrastructure designed to improve agricultural, horticultural and forestry productivity in a sustainable way. Grants are offered towards the cost of specific items of equipment on a list. We promised to review the list of productivity and slurry items and we'd like your help.
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The NLW and protected characteristics: Living wages and ethnic pay gaps
We have long been concerned with understanding the minimum wage’s impact on different groups of workers. Since 2021, the Government has formally specified this requirement in our remit, asking us "to gather particular evidence on groups of low paid workers …
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Building a better future for our teams
For Learning at Work Week, Defra digital, data, and technology Academy Lead Hermionie Blake explains how our Skills Academy Programmes are enabling talent to shine.
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Improving accessibility at the Royal Courts of Justice
Find out how colleagues at the Royal Courts of Justice Group have been working to improve access to justice for users with accessibility needs.
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Coverage on Nutrient Neutrality
There has been coverage in The Times today which covers comments from the Home Builders Federation, who claim that Natural England has blocked the building of over 160,000 homes due to nutrient neutrality rules, causing development levels to fall to …
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Coverage of Ivory Act extension to five new species
Five new species set to be protected under Ivory Act extension
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How to learn from Learning at Work Week
Joya Snowden, Digital Data and Technology Services Capability Development Lead, reflects on how we can all benefit from this annual celebration of learning, even discovering or acquiring new talents and curiosities.
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Respect the Range: How to safely access MOD land this summer
A team from DIO recently attended the South Downs National Park Authority’s ‘Secrets of the Heath’ festival in Hampshire, to speak to festival-goers and promote safe public access to the Defence Training Estate (DTE). The event took place at Hogmoor …
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Oak Processionary Moth: ID and action
Find out more about the tree pest Oak Processionary Moth. This visual guide explains how to spot it, and the actions you can take.
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What can you expect during a food business inspection? An Environmental Health Officer explains
We spoke to Luke, an Environmental Health Officer from Gwynedd Council in Wales, who talked to us about how he helps food businesses be safe and successful.
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Building back better and mainstreaming property flood resilience
Julie Foley, Director of Flood Risk Strategy & National Adaptation Around 1 in 6 people are at risk of flooding in England. Our changing climate means that more homes will be at risk in the future. We have traditionally focussed …
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Managing Deputyships with DigiDeps: A Collaborative Digital Solution
My name is Alexander Pulley and I am a team leader within the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). Some of you might have heard of the OPG and some of you may even be our customers. At OPG, we …
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How we are preparing for the introduction of the new biodiversity net gain digital service
On International Day for Biological Diversity Service Designer Chris Brooker shares some insight into the work that has gone into designing a service for a unique new government policy which goes live later this year.
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The Qs of Quality Research
When looking for or commissioning research it is important to understand the research question, what it is you want to know. A suggested way to do this is to break your research question into basic what, how and why questions. …
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GSE Leadership Values: Integrity
When writing a blog about the GSE leadership value of ‘Integrity’, I had to stop and think for a moment about what integrity really meant for me. As both a Civil Servant and a scientist, I think it’s essential for …
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Lump sum for war widows to honour veterans' sacrifice
Widows of serving personnel who forfeited their pensions before 2015 could be eligible for a one-off payment of £87,500 as part of the Government's continued support for the armed forces, their families and veterans. The new joint initiative from the …
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Boosting the primary care workforce and improving patient experience
The government has met its target of recruiting 26,000 additional primary care professionals – one year ahead of the March 2024 deadline. Data published today by NHS England shows there are 29,103 additional primary care staff delivering care to …
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Why travel is my way to wellbeing
Senior Service Management Office Manager Kata Papunen reflects on how much a recent extended travel break has done wonders for her mental wellbeing.
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Join us in celebrating England’s most important places for nature – National Nature Reserves
By Jamie Neale, NNR Week Coordinator, Natural England 2023 is a pioneering year for England’s most important places for nature, National Nature Reserves (NNRs). Between May 20th and May 29th, the very first National Nature Reserves Week (NNR Week) will …
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SATs English reading test: Were the year 6 tests more difficult in 2023 than previous years?
Every year 6 pupil takes key stage 2 (KS2) national curriculum tests, known as SATs, to measure school performance and to make sure individual pupils have the support that they need when they move into secondary school. This year, the …
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Don't forget to check for hep - testing and treatment for hepatitis
Many people who have hepatitis are unaware they have the infection, because the viruses can be symptomless. This means they aren’t getting the treatments they need and are possibly passing the virus on to others without knowing.
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Teachers’ professional development remains a work in progress
The ongoing professional development of teachers is fundamentally important for education quality, and has been shown to improve teacher satisfaction and retention. Teaching practice based on an up-to-date, and deep understanding of relevant evidence is a hallmark of a high-quality …
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Water UK’s national apology from sewage and water companies
Defra and Environment Agency reaction following a national apology from Water UK, on behalf of water and sewage companies, for not acting quickly enough on sewage spills.
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Accessibility: designing an inclusive and barrier-free user experience
Chris Jenkins, Zico Harris and Christopher J from the Defra Digital, Data and Technology Accessibility Team asked an artificially intelligent large language model a question around this topic. When it served up a generic blog, they decided to write their own instead.
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Landscape Recovery: apply for the second round
Landscape Recovery funds long-term, large-scale, bespoke projects designed to enhance the natural environment and deliver significant environmental benefits. I’m pleased to say that you can now apply for the second round. The deadline is midday on Thursday 21 September. In this post, I’ll share an overview and links for you to learn more.
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Why is school attendance so important and what are the risks of missing a day?
Being around teachers and friends in a school or college environment is the best way for pupils to learn and reach their potential. Time in school also keeps children safe and provides access to extra-curricular opportunities and pastoral care. That’s …
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Commissioner Robin Simcox visits Birmingham to meet counterterrorism and counter-extremism professionals
Robin Simcox, the Commissioner for Countering Extremism, this week visited Birmingham to meet those who are tackling extremism and learn more about specific local challenges. Robin met the Prevent team at Birmingham City Council, Prevent Leads and Co-ordinators within West …
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Help us to shape digital services that work for all
Global Accessibility Awareness Day was a landmark occasion which was marked at the Legal Aid Agency with a renewed call to join our digital accessibility panel, writes Josh Dresner, who works in digital user research. Designing accessible services We ran …
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Building an accessible culture at HMRC
I’m Graeme, and I joined HMRC as Head of Accessibility in 2021. One of the reasons I joined the Civil Service in this role was because I passionately believe that government services should be easy for everyone to use. I …
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Improving the accessibility capability of government
Here, Richard Morton reflects on the past 7 years of accessibility work in the Government Digital Service, Central Digital and Data Office as well as across government and the wider public sector.