[rikroots]

> Unfortunately when he and the original team left and more people joined GDS / departments started to develop their own services a lot of direction and momentum was lost.

If this is true, then it proves everything that comes around, goes around. My first ever professional web development job was rebuilding the England and Wales Housing website[1], which was around the time that gov.uk was beginning its work to bring all central government online activity into the one site. The resistance from Government Departments - who all greatly value their semi-independence from the clutches of the Cabinet Office (and HM Treasury) - was immense!

I'm glad gov.uk won that fight: allowing each Government Department to have its own online presence, and their individual policies and procedures surrounding that presence, can never lead to a good outcome for people who have to access and use government services online.

[1] - Thank you, National Archives! https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20011030184204/ht...