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Service standard reportÌý

DSFÌý-ÌýImproving Customer Service (previously self-serve)Ìý

Assessment date	22/07/2026
Assessment stage	Beta
Assessment type	Assessment
Service provider	APHA
Result	Amber

PreviousÌýassessment reportsÌý

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Service descriptionÌý

We aim to make it easier for customers to navigate to the correct team in APHA to answer questions on the wide range of APHA services. We also want to make it easier for APHA to track and respond to those queries quickly and efficiently.ÌýÌý

We aim to achieve this by extending the use of Defra Group’s current Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) platform, Storm by Content Guru, to handle inbound email enquiries from customers, as well as inbound telephony, replacing the current network of exposed email addresses linking to Outlook shared mailboxes. This service will use existing technology on the estate, namely Defra Forms for the front-end contact forms and the user-centred routing solution, and Storm.Ìý

Service usersÌý

All APHA’s broad customer groups will use this service. This includes farmers, traders of animal and plant products, citizens travelling abroad with pets, members of the public reporting concerns or issues,ÌývetsÌýand many othersÌý

Internally, our users are customer advisers and team leaders whoÌýare responsible forÌýresponding to inbound customer contact and managing staffing,ÌýoperationsÌýand reporting of the contact APHA receives.Ìý

This service is for:Ìý

• Customers, such as veterinary practices, commercial business, and the public to seek advice when they need help from APHA.Ìý

• Internal users of the STORM contact centre management system to manage inbound contact when customers need help or advice.Ìý

• APHA management who need to understand the amount of demand, how well it is being serviced, andÌýidentifyÌýareas of failure demandÌý

Things the service team has done well:Ìý

• The teamÌýis workingÌýwithÌýa user centred approach.ÌýThe teamÌýis carryingÌýout a substantial amount of user research, includingÌýwithÌýinternal and external users, offline users,Ìýusers with low digital ability, users withÌýadditionalÌýaccess needs and users of assistive technology.ÌýThe team has a clear view of their user segmentation.ÌýThe teamÌýis usingÌýa variety of methods, selecting the most suitable to answer the research questions.ÌýThe team is sharing theirÌýinsights more broadly, for example with Defra Forms, to enableÌýimprovementsÌýwhich are wider than theirÌýimmediate scope.Ìý

• The team hasÌýdisplayed a clear understanding of the end-to-end journey for their users.ÌýThey’veÌýundertaken a significant amount of testing, helping them iterate and improve the design of the service. The team hasÌýfocussed on scalability as part of their design approach. This will result in more efficient delivery as the service expands.ÌýThey’veÌýcollaborated with teams across Defra to resolve blockers and ensure the experience for users isÌýoptimal. The teamÌýisÌýworking in the open so that learnings are shared with teams looking at similar problems.Ìý

• The team has doneÌýreally wellÌýto work across policy,ÌýoperationsÌýand digital.ÌýThey’veÌýbeen delivering in a truly iterative fashion. They have a clear plan for how to support the workÌýthey’veÌýdone going forwards.ÌýAll in all, the assessment panelÌýwasÌýreally impressed with the work the team has done and the wayÌýthey’reÌýworking.Ìý

• The team hasÌýa clear idea of what success means both for their project and for the servicesÌýthey’reÌýdelivering.ÌýThey’veÌýdeveloped in depth dashboards so that they can make future decisionsÌýbased onÌýclear evidence.Ìý

1. Understand users and their needsÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌýpoint 1 of the Standard.Ìý

Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service:Ìý

• Carry out the plansÌýfor continued user researchÌýand iteration.Ìý

2. Solve a whole problem for usersÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌý.Ìý

Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service:Ìý

• If a user is seeking advice multiple times, there is a risk of duplicate submission of data for fields such as email address.ÌýWe’dÌýencourage the team to explore potential link ups with other work taking place that couldÌýenableÌýcloser integration with existing user data.Ìý

3. Provide a joined-up experience across all channelsÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌýpoint 3 of the Standard.Ìý

4. Make the service simple to useÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌýpoint 4 of the Standard.Ìý

Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service:Ìý

• Continue collaboration with the Defra Forms team to introduce the ability to addÌýmore bespokeÌýerrorÌýmessages toÌýformÌýjourneys. ThisÌýcouldÌýimprove overall usabilityÌýfor the DSF service and other servicesÌýusingÌýDefra Forms.Ìý

5. Make sure everyone can use the serviceÌýÌý

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The service was ratedÌýamberÌýforÌýserviceassessments@dsit.gov.uk.Ìý

The service team has madeÌýgreat effortsÌýwith the user researchÌýthey’veÌýcompleted to understand and improve the accessibility of their service.Ìý

Undertaking this research alerted the team to accessibility issues with the Storm contact centre management system. Internal users would be using this platform for managing inbound contacts from customers.Ìý

This led to collaboration with the Defra Accessibility Team who recommended independent verification of the platform with an external accessibility audit.Ìý

This audit highlighted aÌýsignificant numberÌýof level A and AA accessibility and usability issues, which means the serviceÌýdoesn’tÌýcurrently meet the required WCAG 2.2 level. In real terms, this would mean some internal users with access needs would be unable to undertake key parts of their role withoutÌýassistanceÌýfrom colleagues.Ìý

Since the assessment, the team hasÌýbeen working with the platform owner to agree upon a remediation plan that would resolve the 49 issues highlighted in the accessibility audit. The platform owner has committed to resolving 41 of the issues within a 90-day window. For the other 8 issues, the advice from the Defra Accessibility Team is that these issuesÌýwon’tÌýfundamentally break the users experience and pose limited risk if resolved within a longerÌýtime frame.Ìý

For theÌýmomentÌýthe rating for standard point 5 is amber, this will be reconsidered once the following conditions are met:Ìý

• TheÌýplatform ownerÌýhas resolved the 41 prioritised issues from the remediation plan within the agreed 90-dayÌýtimeframe.Ìý

• The service team has retested the platform with users of assisted technology to verify theÌý41Ìýaccessibility changes have been implemented.Ìý

• TheÌýplatform ownerÌýhas provided details of next steps for the other 8 issues highlighted in the accessibility audit.Ìý

6. Have a multidisciplinary teamÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌýpoint 6 of the Standard.Ìý

7. Use agile ways of workingÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌýpoint 7 of the Standard.Ìý

8. Iterate and improveÌýfrequentlyÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌýpoint 8 of the Standard.Ìý

9. Create a secure service which protects users’ privacyÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌý.Ìý

Demonstrated the service is secure, but the assessment pack could furtherÌýdemonstrateÌýthis point:ÌýÌý

• Evidence of IMAP, Security Waiver and Graph migrationÌý

• Evidence of Security Architecture, IAM, Monitoring, Threat Modelling, and ITHC.Ìý

10. Define what success looks like and publish performance dataÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌýgovuk-enquiries@dsit.gov.uk.Ìý

11. Choose the right tools and technologyÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌýpoint 11 of the Standard.Ìý

Demonstrated the service has appropriatelyÌýchosen the right tools and technologies,Ìýbecause:Ìý

• Evidence detailsÌýdemonstratingÌýoptions were consideredÌý

• ADRsÌýexistÌý

• Technology decision documentedÌý

• Defra Forms, and Storm selected. Alternative platforms considered and future proofing options considered to support other technologies.Ìý

12. Make new source code openÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌýpoint 12 of the Standard.Ìý

The serviceÌýdemonstratedÌýreasonableÌýmeans for chosen technology and its association to source code open:Ìý

• The technology isÌýlargely aÌýSaas configuration solution. Source Code Open notÌýapplicable at this stage.ÌýÌý

13. Use and contribute to open standards, commonÌýcomponentsÌýand patternsÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌýpoint 13 of the Standard.Ìý

The serviceÌýdemonstratedÌýevidence on contribution to open standards:Ìý

• The technology stack supportsÌýopen standards alongside the service offering, APIs, and data standards.ÌýÌý

• The service teamÌýdemonstratedÌýemailÌýremainsÌýdominant integration mechanism.ÌýÌý

14.ÌýOperateÌýa reliable serviceÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌýpoint 14 of the Standard.Ìý

The serviceÌýdemonstratedÌýa reliable serviceÌýbecause:Ìý

• Evidence of pilot monitoringÌý

• Evidence of issue managementÌý

• Evidence of continuous improvements and future mechanisms put in placeÌý

• Future areas of focus, include 2.5kb defect, auto-response loops, IMAP challenges, and dependency risksÌý

• The service is operationally managed however a recognition of improvements on resilience are being put in place.ÌýÌý

15.ÌýDeliver a sustainable serviceÌý

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The service was ratedÌýgreenÌýforÌýDefra’sÌý, focused on sustainability.ÌýÌý

The service has completed aÌýÌýfor the Beta phase, whichÌýdetailsÌýtheirÌýsustainabilityÌýapproach. Some of theÌýmain areasÌýof good practice are:ÌýÌý

• UseÌýofÌýdesign patternsÌýfor the service’s routing modelÌýthatÌýhave beenÌýproven in DVLA and other parts of government, saving on resourcesÌýassociated withÌýdevelopingÌýoneÌýfrom scratch. Also documentingÌýhow this modelÌýhas been implementedÌýto make it as easy as possible to be reused by other services across Defra groupÌýÌý

• Use of Defra FormsÌýfor the customer-facing front-end,Ìýbased on the °Ç¸ç³Ô¹Ï design system, to ensure usability andÌýsave onÌýresources associated withÌýdeveloping these from scratch.ÌýDefra Forms’ use of the Core Delivery Platform (CDP) will mean use of common components and shared resources for cloudÌý

• Taking a lean approach to notificationsÌý– a short and simple confirmation ofÌýinitialÌýreceipt of the contact form onlyÌýprovided to usersÌý

• LimitingÌýuse ofÌýmultimedia,Ìýby only allowing users to upload images and videos, as well as use of interactive mappingÌýforÌýwhen there is a clearÌýneed (e.g.ÌýtoÌýfacilitateÌýusers providingÌýaccurateÌýlocation data when reporting incidents)Ìý

• Created aÌýstandardised library of content templates that will be used in further rollout of the serviceÌýand consistency across the APH delivery groupÌý

Advice to help the service team continually improve the service: Ìý

• The Sustainability Statement records a commitment to explore which metrics might beÌýappropriateÌýand practical for the service to track sustainability in PublicÌýBeta, whichÌýfocuses on volumes of users as a proxy metric.ÌýWhere possible, estimating data storage volumes, andÌýdeveloping ways to reduceÌýthis over time, would beÌýideal during PublicÌýBeta.Ìý

Next StepsÌý

This service can now move into a public beta phase, subject to addressing the amber points within [three months] time and GDS spend approval.Ìý ÌýThis service now has permission to launch on a °Ç¸ç³Ô¹Ï service domain with a beta banner.