3.3 Designing and delivering public services: recommendations for the UK

Estimated read time: 5 minutes

The story of public service design and delivery in the UK paints a picture of a country that has laboured to turn early digital promise into a truly coherent, user-friendly, and inclusive ecosystem. On one hand, the UK pioneered user-centred design, consolidated an unwieldy online presence into a single domain, and proved the value of agile approaches. On the other hand, departmental silos, political volatility, legacy contracts, and underinvestment in digital inclusion have diluted the momentum. It is telling that the once-celebrated pace of delivery has slowed, leaving a sense that professionalisation, while necessary, sometimes tilts towards bureaucracy rather than agile innovation.

The impact of wider social and economic forces cannot be overstated. Brexit, austerity, and the pandemic have reconfigured public services dramatically. Meanwhile, the inequalities in digital skills and access highlight that many citizens remain stranded on the far side of a digital divide. The fundamental question is whether the UK can navigate these structural, cultural, and political headwinds and, once again, lead in creating public services that truly work for everyone.

Even so, there is resilience in the system. Many civil servants, digital practitioners, and local champions hold firm to the vision of a government that is open, collaborative, inclusive, and unafraid to iterate. The impetus behind GDS may have faded in some respects, but its underlying principles—user need, simplicity, iterative design, and open collaboration—still resonate with those on the frontline of delivery. If given the right mandate and resources, they could yet reignite transformative changes; not just online, but in every dimension of our interactions with government.

Therefore, the future digital centre needs to consider the following steps, in alignment with the existing strategy and standards:

Reimagine the UK’s physical infrastructure for public services: Recognise the value of in-person services and integrate them with digital offerings. It’s essential to ensure services are accessible to all, regardless of digital capability. Explore creating “GOV.UK on the High Street” to blend access to digital services with human support for those who need it.
A new digital inclusion strategy, because digital services must include everyone: Digital government can and must deliver services which can be used by everyone, regardless of the constraints they face. This means actively and ceaselessly working to bridge digital divides and means revitalising the approach to digital inclusion, addressing the significant gap left since 2014. This strategy should cover investment in infrastructure, education, and support for those who are digitally excluded, ensuring that everyone, regardless of location or circumstance, can access and benefit from transformed services.
Reset the conversation about digital identity: A unified, cross-sectoral, trusted digital identity system is essential for seamless, proactive service delivery. The UK should coordinate efforts across government, the NHS, and the private sector to create a coherent solution that will work both online and offline, even if it requires resetting expectations and public discourse. This must ensure accessibility for all, including those with limited digital confidence, while rebuilding public trust in identity systems. Without this, fragmented approaches will continue to block progress on joined-up services. The value of effectively addressing digital identity will be significant, not just for public sector productivity or economic growth but for the opportunities it provides to offer truly proactive and personalised services to users.
Keep investing in common tools and shared services: Shared services should be the norm, not the exception. Extend the availability of common components across all tiers and elements of the public sector. Avoid duplication, learn from past failures, and focus on delivering value quickly and effectively, drawing on the established user research into the needs of teams, especially in the long tail.
Empower local innovation with central support: Local government delivers critical frontline services but lacks the digital resources of central departments. A structured support mechanism—whether that is found in an explicit entity called a Local Government Digital Service or another model—should provide shared tools, funding, and expertise, designed in collaboration with councils. This would enable local innovation while reducing duplication and inefficiencies across the sector.
Reform procurement: Procurement must regain the urgency of addressing rigid, monolithic contracts to enable more flexible, iterative delivery. Breaking down procurements into smaller, user-focused components will encourage innovation, competition, and better outcomes. Commercial frameworks should reward collaboration and open standards rather than locking services into outdated approaches. A smarter procurement strategy will ensure government gets better value and continuously improving digital services.
Strengthen service performance reporting and transparency: A unified, open platform for service performance data would restore transparency and drive better decision-making. Consistently publishing usage, completion rates, and satisfaction scores will allow for more targeted improvements and build public trust. Departments should integrate meaningful, user-focused metrics into daily operations rather than treating reporting as a separate exercise. Clear, accessible data will empower teams to iterate effectively and deliver genuinely user-centred services.