People across the country will be able to complete government
forms online more quickly and easily, boosting efficiency and
speeding up access to support.
The new tool, GOV.UK Forms, has already been used to speed up
registration for redress for more than 300 sub-postmasters
affected by the Horizon IT scandal by removing the need for
lengthy paperwork, print-outs and administrative hurdles - with
forms taking less than five minutes to complete.
It's also been used by the public to register XL Bully dogs and
recruit over 400 new volunteer coastguards, with the tool already
saving an estimated two years in processing time.
GOV.UK Forms will transform how the public fill out applications
and forms on GOV.UK by offering them an online platform to fill
in their details instead - meaning they no longer have to rely on
clunky PDFs or lengthy paperwork, which is inefficient and less
accessible.
The tool will now be rolled out across all government departments
after a successful trial and provide civil servants with a
digital platform that allows them to create and manage secure,
accessible forms online.
Harnessing the power of technology will be crucial to support the
government in achieving its mission of making public services
work for working people, grow the economy, and make everyone
across the country better off.
Minister for AI and
Digital Government will unveil the full rollout
of GOV.UK Forms at the Digital Nations Ministerial Summit in
Copenhagen, Denmark today.
Speaking on the platform's success, Minister Clark said:
We're enabling citizens to access essential government services
more easily and securely, whether it's applying for long overdue
compensation or to become a volunteer.
Not only will this modernise how the public interacts with us,
but it allows departments to focus resources on improving public
services - rather than administrative tasks.
This early success marks the start of our ongoing mission to
refine digital tools, building trust and ensuring government
works for everyone, everywhere.
Following successful private beta and early access phases,
GOV.UK Formswill now enter a
‘public beta' testing phase, which will mean it is applied more
widely where citizens need to share information with the
government.
To date, 87 forms have been published, with over 1,200 government
users adopting the platform, saving more than two years in
processing time.
Christine Bellamy, CEO of the Government Digital
Service (GDS)
said:
GOV.UK Forms enables people running government services to create
online forms in minutes, without the need for coding or design
skills.
By enabling teams to replace paper-based forms with digital
alternatives that are quicker to process, more secure and more
accessible, we're helping to realise a more modern digital
government that helps to give people their time back.
The platform complies with government standards on accessibility
and cyber security, enabling all users, including those with
access needs, to use the forms easily and securely. It also meets
accessibility standards and regularly tests new features to keep
the forms easy to use for everyone.
GOV.UK Forms is part of a wide range of initiatives in the
government's digital transformation, enhancing efficiency,
security, and accessibility for citizens across the UK.
Minister Clark's announcement at the summit will mark a pivotal
step forward for GOV.UK Forms as it becomes an essential tool in
modernising public engagement with government services.
