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Help users prepare for change

If a policy or scheme is being removed or phased out

If a policy or scheme is being removed or phased out, users will no longer be able to do something on GOV.UK which they can do now.

What to do in advance

Before you change anything, you’ll need to identify all content that refers to the policy or scheme. Your content audit should tell you this.

Users normally need to know in advance that a policy or scheme is being removed. You’ll need to update the existing content to tell users:

  • that the policy or scheme is being removed
  • the date it’s being removed

What to do when the scheme or policy is removed

Replace existing guidance with temporary ‘placeholder’ content explaining that the service, scheme or policy is no longer available. Publish this when the change comes into effect.

Link to any related content that meets a similar user need, including external third-party websites if relevant. For example:

The government has stopped funding the Green Deal Finance Company, which was set up to lend money to Green Deal providers. Contact the Energy Saving Advice Service (ESAS) for other advice on improvements you can make to your home.

Example

When HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) introduced the ‘tax-free childcare’ scheme the existing scheme (childcare vouchers) had to be phased out.

However, parents could still apply for childcare vouchers for a period while both schemes were running. In some cases they were even better off to do this.

This meant GOV.UK needed to publish content in advance to announce the closure so that parents knew how much longer they had to apply for childcare vouchers.

A callout was added to the content several months before the change came into effect:

Note:

From 4 October 2018, childcare voucher schemes will close to new applicants. You may be able to get Tax-Free Childcare instead. You can keep getting vouchers if you’ve joined a scheme and you get your first voucher before the scheme closes.

Once childcare vouchers were withdrawn, this content was replaced by a line explaining that they’re no longer available to new applicants.