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The journey to a smoke-free generation begins with a needs assessment
The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest threats the world has ever faced, and it kills 8 million people a year worldwide. In 2019, a national ambition was set for England to become smoke-free by 2030. Essex has also matched this ambition by signing the Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control on October 2023.
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Essex County Fire and Rescue Service Migration to Microsoft Fabric – Fab or Drab?
Guest blogger, Rob Ellis, from Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, shares the organisation's migration to Microsoft Fabric.
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LGR: Getting the balance right to protect essential services
Leader, Councillor Kevin Bentley, shares why it's so important to get the balance of new councils right during Local Government Reorganisation.
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We chose the Birkenstocks! The key lessons we learned from redesigning the Essex Area Profiles dashboard
I was embarrassingly late to the ‘Barbie’ bandwagon. In 2023 everybody seemed to be doing the “Barbenheimer” challenge, but I resented the idea of paying to see a film that would inevitably end up on a streaming service, so I …
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Assessing the Cost-of-Living Pressures on Our Residents – Part 1
We’ve all noticed increasing financial pressures in the shops, in our bills, and in all aspects of life over the past few years. It can often feel like every time we tune in to the news there is some worrying …
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Doing what is right for the people we serve
Councillor Kevin Bentley, Leader of Essex County Council, writes that after 50 years, it is time for change for our local councils.
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Running a design sprint about consent: lessons and challenges
We ran a design sprint over five consecutive days in February 2025. We’ll share the outcomes from the sprint in another blog. Here we’ll be exploring running the sprint itself, what went well and what we’d do differently next time. …
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Covid-19 five years on: a Day of Reflection for Essex
Councillor John Spence commemorates the selflessness of Essex residents on the Covid-19 Day of Reflection 2025.
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Experiences of moving websites to LocalGov Drupal
At Essex County Council, we now have several websites on the LocalGov Drupal (LGD) platform. These websites are managed by editors from within their respective services. Some have managed web content before, for others this is a new responsibility. We’re …
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A look at Foster Carer Recruitment Inside and Out
How do you ensure that your recruitment approaches are reaching the right people? How do you know whether there is anything internally that you could do differently to increase recruitment? These are questions that every service, company or team will …
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Learning by doing: How research is a bit like learning to ride a bike
I’ll be honest, I’ve never been one for learning from books. I wouldn’t like to tell you how many times my Mum caught me having a nap while I was meant to be studying! I have always preferred to get …