Catalogue description Records of GOV.UK

GOV.UK is a UK public sector information website, created by the Government Digital Service to provide a single point of access to HM Government services. It was introduced in 2012 to replace the existing Directgov and BusinessLink sites.

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is a unit of the Cabinet Office responsible transforming the provision of government digital services. It was formed in April 2011 to implement the 'Digital by Default' strategy proposed by a report produced for the Cabinet Office in 2010 called 'Directgov 2010 and Beyond: Revolution not Evolution'. It is overseen by the Public Expenditure Executive (Efficiency and Reform) which is co-chaired by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The GDS has a 'Digital Advisory Board' consisting of external experts which meets bi-annually and advises the GDS on strategy.

The GOV.UK project site became available as a beta test version from 1 February 2012. On 13 September 2012, through a notice on the Directgov homepage, it was announced that the GOV.UK project would replace Directgov as the primary website of the UK Government on 17 October 2012, after which Directgov would close. It officially replaced Directgov and the online services of Business Link on 17 October 2012.