a. General information

What is a .gov.uk domain

A domain acts as an address to help people find you (like a street address).  The difference between a .co.uk domain and a .gov.uk one is that .gov.uk are only available to government departments and agencies.  This means registration is strictly controlled and this can help provide assurance that your council is an official layer of local government. The Parish Council Domains Helper Service have released a short video explaining the 'what and why' of .gov.uk domains - click here to view the video.

What are the benefits and risks

As a tier of the public sector, is vital that town and parish councils work securely and effectively.  The benefits of having a .gov.uk domain includes better controls and protection against cyber harm and consistency on the way information is handled and stored.  This will result in enabling a more efficient way of handling freedom of information or subject access requests.  Administratively it also easier when somebody leaves the organisation for a host of reasons including ensuring data is deleted which is currently not possible where individual private email addresses are used. 

What to do if your council is considering moving

Parish councils wishing to move over to a .gov.uk domain can now access guidance on the GOV.UK website.  It’s laid out in a step-by-step format, taking the reader all the way through the process, from getting council approval all the way through to choosing your Approved Registrar and what to do when you’re set up. 

Hosting the guidance on GOV.UK means that parish councils can access up-to-date information at any time. You don’t have to attend a virtual session with the Parish Council Domains Helper Service team unless you want or need to, even the contact list for the Approved Registrars can be found there.  It’s a one-stop-shop for everything .gov.uk domain. 

For all enquiries, please contact the Parish Council Domains Helper Service at parish.helper@domains.gov.uk 

 NALC have published an advice note - click on this link to view the advice note (please note that you have to log in to the NALC website to view - if you have not created an account, click on this link to view how)

NALC had a very informative webinar on the subject in December 2024. Watch the webinar here.