6156posts
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Coverage about the cost of new border checks
Today’s blog outlines the government response to recent coverage on the potential cost of new border checks
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Shropshire Petals on applying for grants
RPA offers a wide range of grants rural payments to farmers and businesses. In this blog, RPA talks to farmer Jim Bubb, on how the Improving Farm Productivity grant has made his business more efficient with the addition of droid …
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Farewell and happy retirement to GFiE Director Peter Lawrence OBE
Pete Lawrence, Director for GFIE, retires in May after 43 years in the Civil Service. We caught up with Pete to ask him a few questions about the highlights and challenges of his career. He shared with us a few …
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World Vets Day 2024: Veterinarians are essential health workers
As the global veterinary community celebrates World Veterinary Day 2024 tomorrow, Jane Clark, Director of Veterinary Services for the Food Standards Agency, shares her thoughts on the vital role of Veterinarians in public health and the opportunities and challenges facing the profession.
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Avian Influenza in US cattle
In today’s blog we look at media coverage of highly pathogenic avian influenza in dairy cattle in the United States.
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Leading the charge: Embracing low carbon construction in nuclear
Andy Sharples, our project director, explains what net zero looks like for our major infrastructure delivery, and how sustainability at Sellafield Ltd is being integrated into everything we do.
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When are year 6 SATs 2024? Key dates for parents and pupils
Year 6 pupils in England will soon be taking the key stage 2 (KS2) national curriculum tests, which are often referred to as SATs. The assessments are used to measure school performance and to make sure individual pupils are …
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Sustainable innovation that makes you go “Ooho”
Sustainable packaging business, Notpla, has developed an all-natural packaging solution made from seaweed. We spoke to co-founder, Pierre Paslier, about how IP plays a vital role in the success of his company.
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What risks does government face? How generative AI can help us think more broadly.
Over a year on from the release of ChatGPT, there are now lots of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in various stages of testing and development across government. I’m genuinely excited by the enthusiasm and opportunities that I hear about in …
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Coverage of the Renters (Reform) Bill
There has been widespread coverage of the Renters (Reform) Bill today (Thursday, April 25) after it passed its third reading in the House of Commons yesterday, including The Times, The Mirror, The I, BBC Online and the Evening Standard. Many …
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Army women's cricket development tour in Gibraltar
Under the captaincy of Officer Cadet Milly Till, the 16-member squad from the Army Women’s Cricket Team arrived in Gibraltar, eager to make the most of the week-long training sessions. As the team prepare to take on civilian cricket teams, …
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Marham Bulls Rugby Football club visit Gibraltar
RAF Marham’s Rugby Club, known as Marham Bulls RFC, participated in an intensive week-long training camp in Gibraltar in preparation for the RAF Cup Final in May against either RAF Coningsby or RAF Akrotiri. The Bulls, formed under Group Captain …
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Changes to the Gibraltar skyline as ATC radar retires after 40 years' service
As from yesterday, Tuesday the 23 April, works began which will change the skyline on the top of the Rock of Gibraltar. Since April 2022, there have been two Radar domes (golf balls) at the top of the Rock while …
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Delivery mission book club: great reads to boost your productivity
Over the last month we have been focusing on the topic of what it means to be an ambitious civil servant, and how programmes across departments are helping us deliver outstanding service to the public. In our recent newsletter, we …
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How we found inspiration at the Women in Leadership conference
4 Women in Leadership conference attendees from DBT share their reflections.
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How we value: hotels
In this instalment of our How We Value series, we explain how we value hotels across England and Wales.
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Forming good habits early in Figma
No matter which software you use for your role, there is every likelihood that you might not be using it in the most efficient way. This is not a criticism. We are all human and generally when we find a …
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Armed Forces Parliamentarians arrive in Gibraltar
Three Members of Parliament and four members of the House of Lords recently visited Gibraltar as part of the annual Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme. The scheme, which started in 1989, offers Members of Parliament and the House of Lords the …
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Our response to the Rock Review: one year on
Our response to the Rock Review set out our commitments in light of its recommendations. It is now one year since we published our response. And, of the 75 commitments, we have completed or are working on 64. In this post, we’ll summarise the progress we have made over the last year. We also shine a light on the role of the Farm Tenancy Forum and the collaborative approach of one farm in Oxfordshire.
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EX Auream Petram
Twenty eight staff members and officer cadets from Birmingham, Bristol, Wales, and Devon University Royal Navy Units (URNU) visited Gibraltar for a week-long programme. The cadets, who are all university students, participate in a placement at the URNU for approximately …
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Accounting for discounts and incentives in developer applications
Explaining the difference between discounts and incentives in HM Land Registry terms, and why it is vital to get this right when submitting applications.
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A high five for everyone driving Nature recovery – but we must not rest on our laurels
Tony Juniper CBE, Chair of Natural England Today marks five years since I became Chair of Natural England, which seems to me an appropriate point at which to take stock of the important progress made towards recovering Nature in that …
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Many Happy Returns for Earth Day 2024
For Earth Day 2024, we caught up with world renowned chemist, Professor Anthony Ryan, OBE, from the University of Sheffield to find out about an innovative project on plastic reuse funded by UKRI. The Grantham Centre at the University of …
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Coverage of the UK-wide ban on wet wipes containing plastic
There has been coverage, including in the Telegraph, Sky News, The Independent, Daily Mail, The Times and The Mirror of the publication of the government response to our consultation on a ban on plastic-containing wet wipes. Today’s announcement sets out the next steps to ban the sale and supply of wet wipes containing plastic across the UK.
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Conservation covenants: putting environmental commitments into law
Conservation covenants are legally binding agreements to protect nature or heritage features on land. In this post, we explore their benefits - including how they help to expand the market for biodiversity net gain offsite units.
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Apply now for a water screening study
From today, small groups of farmers in England can apply for a Local Resource Option (LRO) screening study. An LRO is a water resources scheme that improves the resilience or supply of water in a local area. LRO screening studies are one way farmers and growers can better understand their options to improve the supply or resilience of water. In this post, I’ll share the background, explain how the studies work and include links to learn more and apply.
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Tackling plastics in woodland creation
This Earth Day (22 April), Woodland Officer Katie explains some of the partnership work the Forestry Commission is involved in to help reduce the use of plastic associated with tree planting and creating woodlands.
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Join the Funding Service Design team
The Funding Service Design team is hiring! Do you work in engineering, user research or interaction design, and are looking for a fulfilling and impactful career opportunity? Join us online, meet our teams and potentially get hired.
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Watch online - Webinar on visiting care homes, hospitals and hospices
Visits from family and loved one’s are an important part of life when living in a care setting. During the pandemic the challenges faced by both families and those living in care facilities was huge. We want to ensure that …
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Empowering people: Unlocking democracy’s superpower
Cabinet Office civil servant, Catherine Day, visited the London Borough of Waltham Forest’s Neighbourhood Policing Citizens’ Assembly to explore how such assemblies work and their impact. She convenes a cross-government participatory methods forum to improve broad-based participation in policymaking. As …
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Coverage about upcoming border checks
Today’s blog outlines the government response to recent inaccurate coverage on upcoming border checks
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From valves and control systems to AI and robotics: is Sellafield the ultimate engineering training ground?
David Jones, Sellafield Ltd’s head of Operational Technology Group, explains why our nuclear heritage creates the ultimate engineering training environment for budding engineers.
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Update on the Renters (Reform) Bill
Today it has been confirmed by the Leader of the House of Commons that the Renters (Reform) Bill will return to the House on Wednesday next week, 24 April . This landmark legislation will provide a fairer private rented sector …
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Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games - delivering the highest quality global events with big local impact
Guest blog by Sam Lister, Director General at DCMS When thinking about the different kinds of jobs civil servants do, you might be surprised that these include organising a major international sporting event. An evaluation report published in April marked …
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Taking action for our ocean: reflections from the UN Ocean Decade Conference
In this post, Defra Chief Scientific Adviser Gideon Henderson and Senior Policy Advisor Frances Bird share their highlights and reflections from the UN Ocean Decade conference.
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Offering wraparound childcare at our schools
Executive Deputy Headteacher, Lyndsy Killip, at Queen’s Park Federation tells us about their experience of being an early adopter of wraparound childcare and the benefits wraparound has brought to their school community.
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Gibraltar Defence Police Peer support coordinators course
Three members of the Gibraltar Defence Police and the Defence Guard Service welfare committee recently took part in an online Peer Support Co-ordinators course as part of improving their force’s welfare capabilities. The National Police Wellbeing Service course, which took …
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CMA10 essay competition: winners announced
We ran an essay competition to mark the 10th anniversary of the CMA. 85 students and recent graduates sent in their entries in response to the question: ‘What are the benefits of a strong competition and/or consumer protection regime, and …
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FiPL spotlight: the Central Dartmoor Farm Cluster
In the latest Farming in Protected Landscape (FiPL) project spotlight, I shine a light on the work of the Central Dartmoor Farm Cluster.
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Media factsheet: eVisas
Overview eVisas are a key part of delivering a border and immigration system which will be ‘digital by default’ by 2025. This process is already underway, and millions of people in the UK who applied for their visa through the …