About the proposition statement
The bracknell-forest.gov.uk proposition is for council staff who publish information or services on www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk for the public to use.
It helps council staff to understand:
- what goes on the council’s public website
- what goes on other council websites
- what does not go on these sites
- how and when to request an exemption
Who and what is bracknell-forest.gov.uk for
bracknell-forest.gov.uk is built to meet the needs of Bracknell Forest residents, businesses and visitors.
It’s for services, information and guidance that only the council can provide. It makes interacting with the council as easy as possible.
It’s designed so that users do not need to understand the complex structures of local government to access information and services.
bracknell-forest.gov.uk is the trusted source of government information. It needs to remain impartial so that people trust the content they find.
Content and services are continually improved to meet user needs.
What the bracknell-forest.gov.uk proposition covers
bracknell-forest.gov.uk is made up of the following domains and subdomains:
- www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk - the publishing platform for Bracknell Forest Council
- adultsportal.bracknell-forest.gov.uk – for adult social care
- can-do.bracknell-forest.gov.uk - for school support services
- comms.bracknell-forest.gov.uk – for email newsletters
- consult.bracknell-forest.gov.uk - for consultations
- data.bracknell-forest.gov.uk - for open data
- health.bracknell-forest.gov.uk - a portal providing information to support residents to take control of their health and wellbeing
- helpyourself.bracknell-forest.gov.uk - a community website providing information and support to help residents to stay independent and well
- democratic.bracknell-forest.gov.uk - for council committee information
- myaccount.bracknell-forest.gov.uk - for self service
- myjourney.bracknell-forest.gov.uk – for transport and travel
- oneservices.bracknell-forest.gov.uk - for school admissions
- planapp.bracknell-forest.gov.uk - for planning applications
What goes on bracknell-forest.gov.uk
Content and products that are built, maintained or owned by the council should go on bracknell-forest.gov.uk. They must meet an evidenced user need.
It can go on bracknell-forest.gov.uk if it does not duplicate content or services that:
- already exist on bracknell-forest.gov.uk
- exist on another website outside bracknell-forest.gov.uk (where a non-governmental organisation is better placed to meet the user need - you should link to the external website instead)
Your content must also meet one of the following criteria:
Council services
It’s a service that can only be done with the council, for example:
- paying Council Tax
- finding your bin collection day
- registering a birth
- applying for housing benefit
Or it provides official information, for example:
- flooding advice
- planning and conservation areas
Sector specific guidance
It’s specific guidance that aligns with a government policy intent linked to user needs, for example:
- guidance for business on finding commercial land and property
- guidance for developers
- guidance on drugs and drug abuse
Policy and involving people
It helps the council be transparent, engage with people, explain policies clearly and fulfil legal obligations to the public, for example:
- information about our spending and financial performance
- information about strategies, plans and policies and how they are being implemented
- getting people’s feedback, for example through consultations
Responding to major events
It shows what the council is doing about issues and incidents that have a direct impact on people’s lives or have significant public interest, for example:
- information about our response to COVID-19
- information about support for Ukraine
- information about severe weather events
Helping users follow the law
It helps residents and businesses meet their legal obligations, for example:
- guidance on public rights of way
- Section 106 agreements
- explaining GDPR and the Data Protection Act
Support schemes
It helps residents and businesses find and access support schemes, for example:
- Discretionary Council Tax Support scheme
- Household Support Fund
- Discretionary housing payments
Business opportunities
It’s a service or information helping to create or promote business opportunities, for example:
- making businesses aware of investment opportunities
- promoting opportunities to sell to the council
Campaign activity and raising awareness
bracknell-forest.gov.uk microsites enable us to provide a separate platform to support campaign activity. In case of major events, this can also include some limited campaign activity published directly on the main bracknell-forest.gov.uk site.
What does not go on bracknell-forest.gov.uk
While bracknell-forest.gov.uk meets most needs for government publishers, some things do not go on bracknell-forest.gov.uk:
Organisations independent from government
Content and services supplied by organisations that are separate or function independently from local government, including:
- National Health Service (NHS)
- emergency services
- organisations and companies, like mutuals, that are not publicly owned
- sites and services from non-government third parties, for example support forums
There may be instances where independence from bracknell-forest.gov.uk is the best way to serve user needs. For example where association with local government may stop users engaging with content.
Advertising and other activities for commercial purposes
Content, advertising or services which give a commercial advantage to a company or organisation.
General advice
General advice content for residents and businesses, unless it both:
- has a clear user need
- offers guidance or a recommendation relating to a specific policy area for which we are responsible for (for example, planning advice)
Party political content
Content that’s expressly focused on promoting the interests, activities or views of a political party.
Intranet or internal work management tools
Intranet or internal work management tools that are only for council staff.
User needs cannot be met
Where there’s evidence that the functionality required to meet user needs for a website cannot be met through the council’s existing public-facing domains. For example, sites with specific technical functionality, such as housing benefit and Council Tax Support.
bracknell-forest.gov.uk exemptions
You must not create a new council website or public-facing domain without first discussing it with Digital Change and Service Improvement (DCSI) and getting an exemption.
This applies to gov.uk and non-government domains (such as org.uk, co.uk or .com).
How to request an exemption
Email DCSI to request an exemption from bracknell-forest.gov.uk. You’ll need to include:
- why the user need cannot be met on bracknell-forest.gov.uk, with supporting evidence such as analytics, research or examples of needs
- your proposed domain name
- signed confirmation that your manager or head of service has given their approval
Email digital.services@bracknell-forest.gov.uk with the subject line ‘Exemption request’.
DCSI will review your request and pass their recommendations to the ICT Steering Group. They will decide whether or not to approve the exemption request.
After you send an exemption request
You may have to give more information before a decision is made on your request.
Do not begin procurement of an external website until you get confirmation that your request has been approved.
DCSI will let you know the decision after the following ICT Steering Group meeting.
If you do not have an exemption
You’ll need to work with DCSI to shut down your website and migrate appropriate content to bracknell-forest.gov.uk if it either:
- does not have exemption approval
- no longer qualifies for an exemption
The steps to close your website are:
- Proposition audit - work with the DCSI team to identify whether any of the content from your site should be on bracknell-forest.gov.uk.
- Content audit - work with DCSI to understand where content should go on bracknell-forest.gov.uk, and whether it duplicates existing content on the site.
- Agree a date for website closure with DCSI, based on the outputs from the 2 audits.
- Migrate content to bracknell-forest.gov.uk - work with DCSI to migrate relevant content to bracknell-forest.gov.uk and make sure that website redirects to bracknell-forest.gov.uk are set up for the day of website closure.
Get help
If you need help to decide if something should be published on bracknell-forest.gov.uk contact the DCSI team by emailing digital.services@bracknell-forest.gov.uk.