Ann
LightNews LightNews
banner
agvbergin.net
Ann
@agvbergin.net
370 followers 420 following 4.7K posts
Both newts and housing, please. Scientific technical editor. Personal account, views my own.
Posts Replies Media Videos
agvbergin.net
In my view, outsourcing to a single web developer in this way should have been a signal to management that further probing of this process was warranted.

Report does say that this was on the risk register.
OBR staff run the OBR’s website, including updating material and uploading newly published reports and other documents. The exception is (usually) three days per year – the days when the two EFOs and the summer Fiscal risks and sustainability report are published – when the amount of information that needs to be uploaded and the other responsibilities of the team mean an external website developer provides support with website updating and document upload. This web developer has been providing this service to the OBR throughout its history. The web developer also helps with any website development for new pages, accessibility requirements or functionality, as needed. Several re-designs have been made to the OBR’s website over its existence, with a focus on improving usability and accessibility.
December 1, 2025 at 7:04 PM
agvbergin.net
Misconfigured WordPress plugin, because the scale and importance of the task wasn't provided for adequately. I feel really sorry for the staff.
Despite its considerable influence and expertise, the OBR is, in organisational terms, very small, with a budget appropriate to a small analytical organisation. Examination of the OBR’s plans for publication of the November 2025 EFO and multiple related documents reveal a well-planned but significantly underpowered operation. The technology stack and the configuration methods used on the OBR website are some of the most widely used globally, but the tier of product deployed is more akin to that used by a small or mediumsized business (which of course in size the OBR resembles). One simple example of this that emerged during the investigation is the remarkably small file size to which the OBR is limited in publishing. Moreover, enterprise solutions might have embedded audit or review processes which would catch the sort of configuration errors that caused last week’s incident. Furthermore, the OBR’s own risk register notes the vulnerability of its publication capability to absences of single individuals like a web developer. This is in marked contrast to the scale of the Treasury’s capabilities to publish the rest of the critical Budget material, and there are numerous other examples in government of the sort of scale and capability needed to ensure successful publication of major government outputs, especially those with particular sensitivities around their publication. The OBR’s online capabilities, processes and procedures are insufficient for the vital and sensitive task it is entrusted to deliver.
December 1, 2025 at 6:54 PM
agvbergin.net
The PM has used the word neurodivergent in a Graun oped. Hmm.
Economic renewal also demands that we must continue to reform the welfare state. We inherited a failing system that left children too poor to eat and which wrote off young people as too sick to work. We must not accept either part of that failing Tory system. That is why we will do more to help young people achieve their potential. Because if you are ignored in your early career, if you are not given the support you need to overcome your mental health issues, or if you are simply written off because you are neurodivergent or disabled, then it can trap you in a cycle of worklessness and dependency for decades.
December 1, 2025 at 7:27 AM
agvbergin.net
Was reading this article yesterday on reduced West Coast Main Line train services with weary resignation. Thought we got to the crux of the matter in paragraphs 14 and 15.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...
An Avanti spokesperson confirmed that its fastest service would still run with crew, but no passengers. They said: “We are disappointed with the Office of Rail and Road’s decision not to grant access rights from December for four weekday services that we currently operate, including the 07.00 from Manchester to London fast service, as well as requiring a Sunday service which currently runs from Holyhead to London to terminate at Crewe. This will clearly impact those customers who already use these services.” The ORR said: “Our decision on the Manchester-London service was based on robust evidence provided by Network Rail that adding services within firebreak paths on the west coast mainline would have a detrimental impact on performance. We identified that this service would run in one of those paths.
November 30, 2025 at 7:23 AM
agvbergin.net
Feels like a good day to reshare this piece by Ciaran Martin apropos the reanimated discussion of the British Library cyberattack.

www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/blog/jaguar-...
And here’s the extraordinary thing: at that point, and at that point only, the HSE was required to report itself to regulatory authorities for failure to uphold its legal obligations. When the organisation was entirely unable to fulfil its core function of allocating healthcare, it hadn’t breached the law. But when it lost a few bits of personal data, it was time for full-on regulatory enforcement.
November 18, 2025 at 4:30 PM
agvbergin.net
Had forgotten what this paper published last year concluded, but it supports what this report says about attainment for SEND pupils.

> The academic achievement gap between students with and without special educational needs and disabilities

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
ABSTRACT Legislative frameworks in England have been designed to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Despite efforts from policy makers, achievement gaps persist between students with SEND and their typically developing peers. This study examines the extent and persistence of academic achievement gaps between students with various SEND classifications and their peers. Utilising data from the National Pupil Database, a comprehensive analysis of approximately 2.5 million Year 6 students across four academic years was conducted. The analysis focused on reading, mathematics, and writing achievements, exploring variations by SEND type and assessing changes over time. The findings revealed substantial, persistent gaps across all examined subjects, with the largest discrepancies noted in students with intellectual disabilities. Although some variability was observed based on the type of SEND, all students with SEND performed, on average, below their peers, with gaps widening over the examined period. The results underscore the need for a critical re-evaluation of educational practices and policies intended to support students with SEND.
November 14, 2025 at 6:22 PM
agvbergin.net
And this seems like a much better layout too for the warnings.
Weather warning page for Peterborough. Two warnings in a side bar on the left, warnings info with nice big map on the right.
November 14, 2025 at 6:35 AM
agvbergin.net
Making them more prominent on the home page looks good, I think.
Forecast page for Peterborough with prominent yellow and amber weather warnings.
November 14, 2025 at 6:34 AM
agvbergin.net
Ah, so apparently Aurora Watch might underestimate at the start of the hour due to how it's calculated:

aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/explanation/
AuroraWatch UK geomagnetic activity index AuroraWatch UK produces an hourly activity index to measure “geomagnetic activity” which we use to estimate the likelihood that aurora can be seen from the UK. The value for the current hour is updated every 3 minutes based on the available data. For this reason the value is often low in the first few minutes of the hour and will increase later-on. An example plot showing geomagnetic activity computed from our Crooktree magnetometer is shown below.
November 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
agvbergin.net
Several paragraphs into this piece we get to finding out the scale of the project, which is really a multi-year digital transformation of a moving target.

Everyone deserves better than the minister saying "AI chatbot ... quickfix", including the minister 😔

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
According to unions and governors, there has been a recent increase in errors because of complicated early release schemes and a paper-based system, which means many documents are lost between prisons, courts and the Ministry of Justice.
November 11, 2025 at 8:21 AM
agvbergin.net
Intrigued as to this wording. Where has "scientifically acceptable" come from?

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
The pilot scheme saved HMRC £17m but left 46% of the families targeted incorrectly suspected of fraud, a margin of error far in excess of the 1% to 5% scientifically acceptable.
November 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
agvbergin.net
Seems like a good day to repost this response on overdiagnosis of mental illness from the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

(This was in response to comments from Wes Streeting several months ago.)

www.rcpsych.ac.uk/news-and-fea...
“The significant rise in the number of people being diagnosed with a mental illness in recent years has been driven by real issues that affect us all, such as increases in poverty, housing and food insecurity, as well as loneliness and isolation. This crisis is having a substantial impact on people’s lives, the health service and the economy.
November 9, 2025 at 12:26 PM
agvbergin.net
Crowdsourced Purple Air sensor data showing things not great across parts of West and North Yorks this morning, more bonfires and fireworks last night plus fog that's yet to lift.

map.purpleair.com/air-quality-...
Leeds-York-Tadcaster map with red and orange circles indicating moderate to high particulate matter sensor readings.
November 9, 2025 at 9:06 AM
agvbergin.net
The Met Office’s chief meteorologist, Dr Will Lang, said: “This year has been characterised by notable rainfall deficits across much of England. By 28 October, provisional data shows England had only 61% of its expected annual rainfall, when we’d normally have about 80% at this time of the year (based on 1991–2020 average). “Looking ahead, there is an increased risk of dry spells through late autumn and early winter and regional differences in rainfall continue to be likely. Without sustained and widespread precipitation, a consistent recovery from drought remains uncertain.”
November 8, 2025 at 3:27 PM
agvbergin.net
> For one thing, there’s the challenge of scaling up a digital storage and access system which has so far been built “using resources at the margins over the years”.
Cuts are particularly hard to make because the demands on the library are growing. For one thing, there’s the challenge of scaling up a digital storage and access system which has so far been built “using resources at the margins over the years”. Then there’s the continued demand for physical services: “We are finding that the journey into digital is not a simple one-way switch out: the physical demands on what the library does in terms of collecting and service provision - collecting physical artefacts and serving real people in real spaces —are, if anything, going up,” says Keating.
November 5, 2025 at 7:22 AM
agvbergin.net
Resharing a post I made on Mastodon a while back now, interview with the then Chief Exec of the BL from 2013. I don't think there's much mystery as to how the cyberattack was so damaging.

www.civilserviceworld.com/in-depth/art...
Changing demands This sort of partnership is likely to become ever more important as public funding is squeezed: the library’s grant funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was cut by 15 per cent in the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review, and its capital budget by half. These cuts followed a period during which it had made £14.2m of savings, including £710,000 in procurement. Between May 2010 and last month, it shed 16 per cent of its staff.
November 5, 2025 at 7:21 AM
agvbergin.net
One woman recalled how she had to tell her bank that the £5 monthly donation was illegitimate in order to block it, which resulted in her account being frozen, and her being issued with a new bank card.
November 4, 2025 at 6:22 AM
agvbergin.net
Councillor to my knowledge not involved in the TPA.

More that the first time I heard of this as a story the TPA turned up to Cambourne to get their photo taken in green polo shirts. Sample of the stories they were trying to get picked-up on this as far back as 2023 here:
Various TaxPayers' Alliance website headlines: "South Cambridgeshire Council extends four day week ...", "Are YOU ready for a FOUR-DAY PUBLIC SECTOR?", "Public sector four-day week would cost taxpayers £30bn in ..."
October 29, 2025 at 6:47 PM
agvbergin.net
Labour-run Cambridge City were happy with the four day week in July 🤷🏻‍♀️

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A council has voted to allow staff it shares with a neighbouring authority to work a four-day week for full pay. Liberal Democrat-run South Cambridgeshire District Council permanently adopted the four-day working pattern for its workers last week. It shares services such as planning and waste collection with Labour-run Cambridge City Council. Cambridge City Council voted to make the change permanent for its shared workers at a full council meeting on Thursday.
October 29, 2025 at 6:17 PM
agvbergin.net
Direct link to the 10 page summary of the report: www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/u...
Concluding remarks 26 The advent and spread of independent hospices from the end of the 1960s resulted in an uneven distribution of hospices across the country, but helped to improve understanding of the importance of palliative and end-of-life care. Over time, recognition of the importance of palliative and end-of-life care by DHSC and the NHS has improved, culminating in the specific inclusion of the requirement for ICBs to commission palliative and end-of-life care to meet their populations’ needs in the Health and Care Act 2022 27 NHS commissioning of palliative and end-of-life care from hospices has not yet fully moved on from its historic use of grants to commissioning through contracts, meaning it is not always clear what services are being commissioned or whether local demand is being met. Equally, NHS commissioners are unable to fully understand how the funding they provide to hospices is being used to support patients and their families. Standardising the commissioning and funding of palliative and end-of-life care from hospices across all ICBs would go some way to help with this. To ensure equity of choice of care for people at the end of their lives across England, ICBs need, with guidance from DHSC and NHS England, to understand what services they require and how best to use the funding they already spend on care for these people. With the number of people in England who die each year increasing, and the key positioning of high-quality palliative and end-of-life care in the assisted dying debate, the sustainability of the independent adult hospice sector is of national importance.
October 29, 2025 at 7:19 AM
agvbergin.net
Not sure what to make of the new look for the Met Office forecast page. I guess I'm pretty grumpy because the air quality is now right at the bottom.
screenshot of new forecast design
October 23, 2025 at 6:00 PM
agvbergin.net
Throwback bucket full of toads. We were meant to try and separate the males and females where possible but haven't done a good job of that here. The females are larger.
yellow bucket containing a bunch of toads, some of whom are just chilling in the bucket and others trying to climb the walls. some are in amplexus
October 21, 2025 at 5:49 PM
agvbergin.net
Re-reading this June 2025 opinion piece by Stella Creasy.

She criticizes Tonia Antoniazzi's amendment that was passed to decriminalize abortion in England and Wales as too limited, and as too small an ask from the left.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
On Tuesday, parliament had the opportunity to set abortion in England and Wales on the same modern, regulated footing as it is in Northern Ireland: as a human right. Instead, a vote on this was explicitly blocked by the providers of this service and their supporters, telling MPs to back another amendment, to get a single exemption from prosecution for women “over the line” instead. That is what happened. In contrast, my proposed amendment would have gone further, offering “protection to all those involved in ensuring that women can access safe and legal abortions”. In the current parliament, any pro-choice amendment would have passed. A critical opportunity not just to stop the destructive prosecutions and investigations under outdated laws of everyone, including medics, but to also protect access for the 250,000 who have an abortion every year, has been missed. As a result, the laws that make abortion a criminal act remain, ready to be exploited by those who wish to attack access should they come to power.
October 14, 2025 at 8:25 AM
agvbergin.net
The first time I've seen a wildfire mentioned in a Defra Air Quality forecast.

uk-air.defra.gov.uk
UK forecast map all green except for a purple dot near Aberdeen. Forecast reads: Today : Low levels of air pollution expected across the UK on Saturday, though locally High or Very High in Aberdeenshire near a large grouse moor wildfire near Tarland.
October 11, 2025 at 3:36 PM
agvbergin.net
Conclusions from the dossier submitted to the National Audit Office.
Conclusion External, independently verifiable evidence confirms that Access to Work’s current implementation represents a systemic national failure, not a local or administrative anomaly. These findings reinforce the need for NAO scrutiny into both the policy origin and operational governance of the scheme. Observed Impacts The evidence gathered by Action on Disability (AoD) shows that Access to Work’s (AtW) administrative and policy failures have produced measurable harm, not only to individual Disabled workers, but also to employers, local authorities, and the public purse. These impacts fall into four broad areas: employment outcomes, personal wellbeing, employer costs, and fiscal inefficiency.
October 10, 2025 at 8:50 AM