How to raise requests with GDS
The Government Digital Service (GDS) works on support requests related to GOV.UK.
How to raise a request
If you’re a government publisher, read the guidance in the rest of the ‘Accounts and support’ section to find out how to contact GDS for your specific need.
If you’re not a government publisher, use the support form to contact GDS.
How GDS deals with requests
Your request will reach us via an online customer request handling system called ‘Zendesk’ – which is why you’ll sometimes hear GDS refer to requests as ‘Zendesk tickets’.
If you’ve submitted a request via the support form, do not also post about it in the Basecamp community.
How to write requests
You should:
- only make one type of request per ticket (for example, do not put a request to fix a bug and a request for a short URL in the same ticket)
- write in plain English
- be precise about what you want
- say if there is a deadline
- explain why it’s important for your users
- include relevant documents, URLs or screenshots
- include any relevant evidence to support your request
If you want an update on the progress of your request or you want to provide extra information, reply to the email you get after you submit your request. Do not submit a new request.
What GDS does with requests
GDS accepts and prioritises all requests according to:
- the strength of the user need
- the GOV.UK proposition
- the latest product roadmap (for major product changes)
Response times
GDS aims to:
- reply to 80% of requests within 2 working days
- reply to 80% of public requests within 5 working days
- resolve 70% of requests for content or product teams within 5 working days
GDS’s response targets apply during business hours (9am to 5pm) and working days (Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays).
GDS will try to give you a definitive response within this time. If they cannot, they’ll let you know.
If you have not had a response within one of the target times, then you should ask for a progress update. You can do this by replying to the email you got after you first submitted your request. Do not submit a new request.
Emergency response times are an exception to this. GDS will aim to reply as soon as possible.
Closing tickets
GDS will close a ticket and mark it as ‘solved’ when:
- it contains more than one type of request - they will ask you to submit a separate ticket for each request
- they’ve answered the query
- they’ve agreed to make a change and it’s deployed to the live site
- they’ve sent content for fact-checking – to avoid 2 lines of conversation about the same piece of content
- they’ve asked you for more information and have not had an answer in 10 working days
They’ll also close tickets when it’s not something they can commit to prioritising, for example:
- it’s too big to fit within the product roadmap
- there’s not enough evidence
- it does not support best publishing practice
- it may need user research
If you’re unhappy with a decision
If you’re unhappy with a decision, then you should first discuss the issue with your organisation’s GOV.UK lead.
If your lead agrees that the GOV.UK decision should be challenged, you should update your ticket with a formal request for it to be escalated. The first line of escalation is typically the GOV.UK Product Manager.