Vacation Placement
Scheme

Sarah
Ministry of Defence

Martin
Dept Work & Pensions

Joseph
Dept Energy & Climate Change

Amy
Business, Innovation & Skills

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Vacation Placement Scheme

Name: Joseph
Department: Department of Energy and Climate Change

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What did you do during your placement?.

• I attended meetings with clients inside and outside DECC on a wide range of subjects from the Aviation Carbon Trading Scheme to the future of Britain’s disposal of its nuclear waste;
• I spent a morning attending meetings with members of an MP’s private office;
• I was set research tasks on the application of insolvency law to particular aspects of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and on the legal powers, duties and responsibilities of DECC (amongst others) in the event of a nuclear emergency.

What did you learn during your placement?

I learnt a considerable amount about how government policy is formulated, but also something of the dynamics and relationships between policy makers, ministers and lawyers: how the various elements of the civil service interact and work together in order to serve the government.

I also learnt just how expansive and wide-ranging DECC’s remit is, how much topical political ground it covers and how it attempts to reconcile the policy areas of energy and climate change.

What did you most enjoy?

I particularly enjoyed the nuclear emergency research project. This took me a few days to complete and was on an extremely interesting subject that I was able to immerse myself in. Crucially, the research was something that needed to be done and I felt like my research was actually appreciated and would have an impact on future work.