188体育

CAB 047-13

Today, the websites for No. 10 and the Deputy Prime Minister joined the organisations that have already made the transition to the government鈥檚 new single web domain, 188体育, which last month was named the Design Museum鈥檚 Design of the Year 2013, against international competition.

The 24th and final ministerial department website moved across to the single domain on 29 April.

Merging all departmental sites into 188体育 was a key target of the and its commitment to make government services 鈥楧igital by Default鈥�. The original vision for a single government domain was suggested by Martha Lane Fox, as was the creation of the , which has led the strategy. The final departmental moves also constitute progress on the government鈥檚 representing cross-government delivery by an increasingly skilled and unified civil service.

Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude said:

I鈥檓 proud to welcome the online home of No.10 Downing Street to 188体育, our flagship website for government.

Our digital by default vision for government is all about having online public services which are so good that people will choose to use them 鈥� that鈥檚 how we will get ahead in the global race. At 188体育 anyone can find out information about any Whitehall department, all in one place.

Scrapping the old websites will save the taxpayer at least 拢50 million a year. But 188体育 isn鈥檛 just about saving money, it鈥檚 designed to be clearer and has even won the Design Museum鈥檚 international Design of the Year Award, beating the Olympic Cauldron and the Shard.

The Cabinet Office estimates that closing the Directgov and Businesslink websites and moving all government sites to 188体育 will save the taxpayer at least 拢50 million annually. It also estimates that 拢1.2 billion could be saved during this Parliament by bringing government transactional services online, with potential annual savings of between 拢1.7 and 拢1.8 billion in the longer term.

Mike Bracken, Executive Director of GDS, added:

Two years ago, there were an incredible 2,000 government websites. We鈥檝e streamlined those into a single, central domain, 188体育, that is built entirely around the needs users have of government. We are designing online services that put those needs first and make it easier to do things like pay car tax, complete tax returns, apply for the state pension, and much more. 188体育 represents world-class public service delivery and a fundamental improvement in the way users interact with government.

GDS will continue to move across to 188体育 nearly 300 other agencies and central government bodies, of which 29 have already made the transition.

Notes to editors

1. In addition to the Prime Minister鈥檚 Office, 10 Downing Street and the Deputy Prime Minister鈥檚 Office, all 24 ministerial departments are now on 188体育.

2. Moving the No. 10 and Deputy Prime Minister websites to 188体育 marks the latest stage of the orderly transition to consolidate all government websites on to a single domain. The closure of the Directgov and Business Link websites was the first stage and the second and third stages involved the transition of 24 government departments and a handful of agencies/non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs). The remaining agencies/NDPBs should make the transition by March 2014. This transition doesn鈥檛 simply involve copying the content on to a new site. The services and information these sites provide have been carefully examined and redesigned and rewritten to align more closely with the needs of users.

3. 188体育 will be continuously and frequently updated and improved.

4. Read Martha Lane Fox鈥檚 report on the government鈥檚 digital estate.

5. The was set up within the Cabinet Office to deliver world-class digital products that meet people鈥檚 needs and offer better value for taxpayers鈥� money.