The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) is working on a programme to encourage more parish councils to move their websites to the gov.uk domain.
It has indicated that this would provide a step change in cyber resilience as the domains are continuously monitored and that any signs of the sites being subverted would be quickly spotted.
Around 1,800 parish councils from more than 10,000 have registered to use gov.uk, with many using a non-government domain on none at all.
CCDO has now begun to look for private sector support in the development of a helper service, saying it wants a supplier to support discovery and pilot phases that will define and trial methods to improve the adoption and protection of gov.uk domains by parish councils.
It has attributed the relatively low take-up of the central domain largely to the councils being unfamiliar with current best security practice, and not having the support to discharge the obligations that come with using gov.uk.
Two groups of five
The initial project will involve working with five parish councils that do not use the domain and five that do, and recruiting 10 registrars to provide services at different scales. Its main deliverables will include a set of user research and business analysis notes, a draft proposal for new ways of working, a review of how successful they prove to be, and key performance indicators to baseline progress.
The effort will be partly aimed at helping parish councillors to understand the benefits and have their personal IT configured to use gov.uk.
The National Association of Local Councils and Society of Local Council Clerks will also be involved in the project.
