9390posts
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Bringing researchers together: launching the first OPSS Areas of Research Interest
On 4th June, The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) held an online event to raise awareness of our recently published Areas of Research Interest (ARIs), and strengthen our OPSS connections with the research community. Around 60 external researchers …
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🏠 Making rented homes safer with new £7k fines - explainer
✅ Good news if you rent privately, as your local council can now take stronger action against your landlord if your home is found to have a serious hazard. A new power in the Renters’ Rights Act is now in …
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How GovPrint is supporting our efficiency and digital sustainability ambitions
GovPrint is a cross-government cloud-based service that lets civil servants securely print documents from any enabled location. In this post, our Live Services team explains how it rolled out GovPrint across MHCLG offices, and how this shared solution supports our efficiency and sustainability ambitions.
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FETF 2026 grant funding agreements now being issued
The first grant funding agreements for FETF 2026 are now being issued, bringing successful applicants one step closer to investing in new equipment and technology. Applicants should read their agreement carefully, accept their offer before the deadline and start planning equipment orders with suppliers.
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Food Fact Check: CBD safety and health claims
Food Fact Check: Chris Stockdale, Head of CBD policy and Max Tollitt, Senior Policy Advisor, CBD Policy answers questions about CBD.
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Unlocking the geography of health and deprivation: two enhanced analytical tools launch today
By Sarah Hammonds, Urban Greening Senior Officer This blog discusses the launch of two new tools: the Index of Multiple Environmental Deprivation (IMED) and the Environmental Equity Index (EEI). Built collaboratively over 18 months, they map environmental pressures and health …
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Welcome to Invasive Species Week - what is Cefas doing?
Aquatic invasive non‑native species can disrupt the delicate balance of our ecosystems, displacing native wildlife and altering habitats. From spreading diseases to creating new competition, their impacts can be far-reaching. In our increasingly connected world, these species are spreading more easily than ever, and climate …
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Hot weather and heatwaves: guidance for schools and other education settings
There are several ways that schools can make changes to keep children safe in hot weather, especially as children are more at risk of becoming ill with heat-related issues than adults. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published updated guidance …
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Keeping our seafarers safe on World Hydrography Day
With more than 90% of the UK’s imports and exports moving by sea, on World Hydrography Day let’s take a closer look at the high-resolution seabed mapping work overseen by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
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Enhancing digital trust through trust services – an update
In December 2024, we blogged about OfDIA’s work to explore how the wider take up of UK qualified trust services across the economy might complement the evolving UK digital identity ecosystem. In August 2025, we launched a call for views on trust services. We have now published the findings from …
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Explainer: How we’re making buying and selling a home simpler, faster and more certain
The way you buy and sell a home is changing to make it faster, simpler, and more certain. 🔑 What does that mean? 🏠 What this means for you 📊 Why the current system needs fixing 📅 What happens now? ❓ Common questions Phil Spencer, Move iQ founder - top tips …
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Coverage of home buying and selling reforms
There is widespread positive national and consumer media coverage following MHCLG’s announcement of major reforms to the homebuying and selling system, aimed at making transactions faster, more transparent, and less likely to fall through. The Financial Times reports the government’s …
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How The Bus Station helped us grow Co‑Lab in West Cumbria
Supported by Sellafield Ltd’s social impact programme, The Bus Station is helping businesses like Co Lab establish, grow and contribute to West Cumbria’s economy.
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Using AI to support planning decisions – what it means for planners and residents
A new AI planning prototype, developed with Google DeepMind and Faculty, is being tested with three local planning authorities to help officers process applications faster. The tool analyses applications and surfaces relevant policies while planning officers remain the key decision makers. Our ambition is to halve processing times for householder applications.
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Connection must be at the heart of adult social care
This week is Loneliness Awareness Week and I wanted to thank Phil Holmes, this year’s President of ADASS for challenging us to think about the contribution of adult social care to tackling loneliness. When I think back to my time as a front-line social …
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How our move to GovPrint is delivering sustainability and social value
John Dare explains how GovPrint, our new managed print service, shows that we’re doing more than replacing old devices. By partnering with the Ministry of Justice and DSA Connect, we’re turning end-of-life printers into an opportunity to deliver zero landfill waste while supporting rehabilitation and employment.
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Laying the groundwork for the Nature Restoration Fund
The Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) is a landmark reform to the way housing and infrastructure developers meet their environmental responsibilities. Yesterday, 18 June 2026, two sets of secondary legislation were laid before Parliament. This is an important step towards putting the fund into practice, …
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Explaining targeted screening
The UK NSC welcomes proposals for targeted screening programmes as part of its open call process.
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Misleading claims on local government reorganisation
There have been misleading claims reported in the Times today saying that decisions on local government reorganisation are “gerrymandering”. This is simply not true. These decisions are being made in line with the published criteria – not on a party …
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UK Space Agency staff member wins NATO Early Career Award
Diana Luncă, Senior Programme Lead for National Security at the UK Space Agency, has won the NATO STO SCI Early Career Award for her outstanding contribution to a NATO research meeting on the use of dual-use space technologies for Alliance operations and security.
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How user-centred design shaped a new jobs and careers homepage
Plans for a new employment support service were set out in 2024’s Get Britain Working White Paper. The report describes a need for a new way of helping jobseekers, using products that keep pace with a changing labour market. Tasked …
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Five years of making justice more accessible
In April, the Digital Accessibility Team reached an important milestone, our fifth anniversary. We cannot quite believe how the time has flown. We started as a small team with a big ambition, and we have grown into a well-established function …
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Celebrating Linnk Group: A King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade
We’re proud to celebrate Linnk Group, a recipient of the King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade, recognised for its strong global growth and commitment to excellence over the past seven years. Founded by CEO Jamie Sobrany, Linnk Group has …
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Update from the GDS Responsible AI Advisory Panel
How is government using AI responsibly? Insights, challenges and next steps from the GDS’s Responsible AI Advisory Panel.
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Giving you a clearer picture of driving test waiting times
Today we're publishing new data on GOV.UK that gives a fuller view of waiting times than ever before - and we'll be updating it every month, broken down by each individual driving test centre.
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Why aren’t policymakers listening?
Health and social care expert, Alex Turk considers with how policymakers might listen better to citizens.
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How the Register of Overseas Entities helps to tackle economic crime
The Register of Overseas Entities came into force in August 2022. This blog post explores how the register is improving transparency of property ownership in the UK and helps tackle economic crime.
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Another WOAH moment
Renewed for five years! The APHA/RVC’s WOAH Collaborating Centre for Risk Analysis & Modelling reflects on its achievements and looks ahead to what is next.
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What is Test, Learn and Grow?
The history of the Test, Learn and Grow programme to date and what we've learned so far.
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Why we write
Kara introduces the Test, Learn and Grow blog - why we want to work in the open and how to be involved.
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Coverage of AI planning tools announcement
There is positive national coverage following a joint announcement by MHCLG and DSIT of two new AI-powered planning tools designed to speed up planning decisions and support the government's ambition to build the homes this country needs. Press Association ran …
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Government offer to resident doctors – explainer
Resident doctors are currently voting on whether to accept a significant offer from the government which would improve their pay, working conditions and career progression. The British Medical Association (BMA) is consulting its members via a referendum, and doctors have until Friday 26 …
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Driving productivity and using our success to improve further
Tom Warth (Chief Operating Officer) shares what the Planning Inspectorate has done in the last three years to make planning much more certain for the whole sector.
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Our courts and tribunals estate: a year of progress
Rupert Morgan, Property Director at HMCTS, reflects on a year of real progress from a new courthouse roof in Nottingham to a brand new tribunals centre in London and looks ahead to an ambitious programme of investment and improvement.
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Free procurement training for schools — apply now
If you work in school or trust procurement, free training is now available to help you build confidence and improve how your organisation buys. Two programmes from the Department for Education (DfE) and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply …
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Join our SFI26 webinar
Following the publication of the final Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 (SFI26) scheme information today, we're hosting a webinar with the Farming Advice Service (FAS) on 25 June.
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Extract is here: AI-powered planning data for every council in England
Extract, a new AI-powered tool developed by MHCLG's Digital Planning Programme and i.AI, is now available for free, for every local planning authority in England. It converts planning documents into structured, usable data in minutes - cutting a process that can take officers up to two hours down to just two on average.
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Creating new wood pasture: What we’ve learned from Nature Returns
By Jessica Elias, Natural England Nature-based Solutions are increasingly recognised as an effective way to respond to climate change while restoring nature and improving people’s wellbeing. Through the Nature Returns programme, we’ve had the opportunity to see how one approach …
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What an SME safari taught us about bias and context
How meeting real business leaders on an SME safari in Manchester challenged our “common sense” narratives about what businesses think and do.
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AI skills at work: what employers can do now, by Helen Slater
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already changing how organisations across the UK operate. From drafting documents and analysing data to supporting customers and improving services, many employers are starting to use AI in their day-to-day work. But simply having access to AI …