9158posts
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Review confirms effectiveness of infectious diseases in pregnancy screening in the UK
A UK-wide effectiveness review shows that the NHS Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Screening Programmes have been highly effective in reducing the transmission of serious infections from mother to baby.
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What is Ebola and how does it spread?
Ebola disease is caused by a group of viruses, known as orthoebolaviruses. It affects both humans and animals and spreads through close contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated materials. The disease was first identified in 1976 during outbreaks in …
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Registering a childminder assistant: what you need to know
Childminders and childminder assistants play a vital role in childcare. At the end of 2025 there were nearly 25,000 childminders in England, with the vast majority providing education and care for early years children. Of these, 41% have an assistant listed on their registration – including the current …
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Exploring the ‘Many Ways to Learn’
This week (Monday 18 - Sunday 24 May) marks Learning at Work Week (LAW). This year's inspiring theme ‘Many ways to learn’ invites us to reflect on how we acquire new skills, adapt to changing environments, and grow as professionals. …
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Integrating clean power and the natural environment
By Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England In this blog, our Chair Tony Juniper reflects on a recent site visit to a solar farm in Essex where he saw first-hand how clean solar energy can be delivered alongside measures to support biodiversity and …
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Lab in a Bag: How we took diagnostics to the other side of the world during the hantavirus outbreak
Last week, 3 of our colleagues packed a fully functioning laboratory into a set of flight cases and boarded a plane to one of the most remote islands on Earth. Saint Helena, a UK Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic …
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Celebrating 75 Years of the Countryside Code!
By Clare Webb, Countryside Code Project Manager at Natural England. In this blog, Countryside Code Project Manager Clare Webb reflects on the evolution of the code over the last 75 years, and how her work has changed to accommodate evolving …
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What the Lifelong Learning Entitlement means for you
The Lifelong Learning Entitlement allows people access to student funding which can be used over their working lives. This provides the flexibility to study to be able to upskill to benefit current jobs, or change careers, while juggling commitments such as work and childcare. …
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Avoidable requisitions are falling: let’s keep it up
Avoidable requisitions are falling: What the latest data shows, what’s changing in the next dataset and where to find support.
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Developing GOV.UK Chat: Our data science and AI engineering journey
Find out how we've used insights and evaluation to refine our experimental AI-powered chatbot ahead of opening up access more widely
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A shared picture of progress: new Defra and Natural England evidence shows 77,638 hectares of habitat target delivery
By Alice Howard, Senior Data Scientist Defra and Natural England have published the 2026 habitat target metric, showing that action has been undertaken on 77,638 hectares to create or restore wildlife-rich habitat across England since January 2023, nearly double last …
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Major shift in government evaluation as Magenta Book is updated
The 2026 update to the Magenta Book represents the most significant shift in government evaluation standards since 2020, moving the needle from "measuring what happened" to "learning how to improve in real-time." Led by the Evaluation Task Force (ETF), the …
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Answers in seconds, 24/7: GOV.UK Chat launches in the GOV.UK app
Find the information you need, quickly and easily, through the AI-powered chat system for GOV.UK.
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Watch: lessons from farmers growing herbal leys in the Derbyshire White Peak
Last summer, we visited farmers in the Derbyshire White Peak to hear what they’ve learned from growing herbal leys in improved grassland systems. Working with Catchment Sensitive Farming adviser Ben Rodgers, they have been exploring how multi-species swards can be integrated into grassland farming. In this post, we’re sharing the first films from that work.
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Food Fact Check: What is ‘lab-grown meat’?
Food Fact Check: Joshua Ravenill, Head of Cell-Cultivated Product Sandbox answers questions about cell-cultivated products (CCPs)
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Nutrient Mitigation Scheme - clarification of Natural England's role
There has been recent reporting in the media and on social media around Natural England’s role in delivering the Nutrient Mitigation Scheme. Natural England has a statutory duty to support sustainable development. We work with developers and planning authorities to …
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Mental Health Awareness Week 2026: From Awareness to Action
Introduction from Sarah McClinton This blog marks Mental Health Awareness Week 2026 with a thoughtful reflection on what it means to move beyond awareness and towards meaningful action. It explores how mental health social work can help rebalance power, place …
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Building a kinship care offer that works: a principal social worker's perspective
What does a kinship care offer look like when it's shaped by the families it serves? Louise Spragg shares lessons from the ground up.
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From stakeholder to Committee member: my early reflections on SSAC from the 'other' side
It is just a year now since I was interviewed to be a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC). This means that I have now been working as a committee member for some six months or so - …
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Foster Care Fortnight: The village that raised me
No matter your background, everyone has a village. But for someone who is care-experienced, it can look very different. Amy Burns reflects on the people who made all the difference , and what that means for fostering today.
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Using single sign-on and MCP to safely connect AI to live government data
The DBT Assist team shares how they safely connected DBT’s AI tools to live customer relationship management data, overcoming a common challenge faced across government. By leveraging existing single sign-on and building an MCP server, the team has created a secure, reusable pattern that unlocks new AI capabilities and helps us use our data in …
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Criminal courts: building on progress, rising to the challenge
Craig Robb, Deputy Director and Crime Live Service Owner at HMCTS, reflects on the past year in the criminal courts – what’s been achieved, what needs to change and why he remains confident in the direction of travel.
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Shape the future of voting: Join our Elections Digital team
The Elections Digital team in MHCLG is growing and looking for a range of digital professionals to join them in providing excellent digital services which support citizens to exercise their right to vote. Find out about what the team is working on, why it matters, and the exciting opportunities on offer.
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Erasmus+: What you need to know
The UK has officially signed the legal agreement to join the Erasmus+ programme, with placements set to begin in the 2027/28 academic year. Here's everything you need to know about what the programme offers and how to get involved. What is …
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Making technology work for justice, one relationship at a time
On the busy train heading home from Birmingham, I find myself reflecting on the past few days and the many conversations I’ve managed to pack into my time there. Between bursts of mobile signal, the journey offers a rare moment to pause, …
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Schools white paper: What parents need to know about changes to the SEND system
Changes to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system have been announced, as part of the schools white paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving.
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Flat owners gain new right to request faster broadband as leasehold shake‑up moves another step closer ✨
Millions of flat owners are another step closer to fairer home ownership, as desperately needed leasehold and commonhold reforms head to Parliament. Now the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill has been confirmed in the King’s Speech, plans to overhaul the outdated leasehold system are no longer drafts - they are on their way to becoming real …
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National Plant Health Week: protecting the green foundations of our lives
This week (11-17 May) is National Plant health week, and we are celebrating our plant health heroes. Read this post to find out the importance of this work and the networks which are key to plant health protection.
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Innovating for better bTB surveillance: how collaboration is shaping the future of calliper technology
Could modernising a century-old calliper transform bovine TB testing? Collaboration reveals how precision tools, digital data and smarter design could reshape accuracy, consistency and future surveillance success.
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Supporting the return of white‑tailed eagles to Exmoor
By Roxanne Gardiner, Senior Officer, Natural England Wildlife Licensing Service and Olivia Beatty, Higher Officer, Wessex Area Team Natural England has issued a licence enabling the next phase of white-tailed eagle reintroductions in southern England, permitting the release of up …
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From data gaps to decisions: Qualitative climate scenario analysis
Mind the (data) gap. Qualitative climate scenario analysis can help public sector organisations understand risks and build resilience when the data needed for robust quantification is limited.
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Farmer Collaboration Fund: webinar for potential delivery partners
On 19 May, we’re hosting a webinar for those interested in becoming delivery partners for the Farmer Collaboration Fund.
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What early language intervention taught me
Sallie Wood, at teaching assistant at Henleaze Infants School, shares how delivering the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme has become one of the most rewarding parts of her role.
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Progress stalls on post-implementation reviews
Departments need to compete new PIRs on time as well as managing the backlog.
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What you need to know about the hantavirus outbreak linked to the Dutch cruise ship
We are monitoring and providing public health advice about an outbreak of hantavirus linked to the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius. Sadly, 3 foreign nationals have died in connection with the outbreak, however, the risk to the public is very low as hantavirus is not spread through everyday social contact.
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Why the FSA is stepping up to counter food misinformation and disinformation
Katie Pettifer, Chief Executive, introduces our new campaign to tackle misinformation and disinformation about food.
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Planning your fertiliser and nutrient use
Although supply remains stable, we know higher fertiliser prices and market volatility are making it harder for you to plan and budget. In this post, we’ll share tools and tips to help you plan nutrient use with more confidence.
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ISE of newborn screening for SMA set to begin in England from October 2026
The in-service evaluation of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy in NHS services in England is set to start from October 2026, the latest SMA ISE Partnership Board meeting was told.
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DBT Data Challenge 2026: From ideas to impact
How DBT colleagues with all levels of experience turned simple ideas into working prototypes within a week, demonstrating the energy and creativity within Digital, Data and Technology.
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