UK Government work update

UK community
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The UK Government Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has been running a project from April 2024 to increase the adoption of Open Referral UK. Our recent mailing gives some details. Note in particular:

Book for meetings to learn more and join the ORUK mailing list if you haven’t yet done so.

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Here on YouTube is a recording of the Government Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) “What is Open Referral UK” event of 9 October 2024 for UK local authorities.

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Here’s an update on the MHCLG LocalDigital work to increase adoption of Open Referral UK.

So far the project has held these two events:

  1. What is ORUK - Meeting of 9 October 2024 (see slides) including:
  • [at 1.16] “What data standards matter for local authorities” - Emily Sullivan of MHCLG
  • [at 18:00] ”Impact on Communities” - Ben Unsworth of TPXimpact
  • [at 39:45] “Why ORUK” - Vicky Tomlinson of Lancashire County Council
  1. Implementing Open Referral UK - Meeting of 20 November 2024 (mainly a technical meeting - see slides) with:
  • [1:50] Local Digital work to encourage adoption of ORUK, Sheldon Ferguson, MHCLG
  • [13:50] Open Referral and the Human Services Data Specification - Greg Bloom, Open Referral USA
  • [32:30] Version 3 of the Standard: UK profile - Kathryn Irish, Open Data Services Co-op
  • [39:15] Updates to the website, Dave Iles and Guy Hilton, Project Team
  • [1:01:50] Questions
  • [1:14:25] What’s next

There’s a third event called “Meet Early Adopters” planned for 28 January 2025.

Post here or message me if you’d like to:

  • Review the draft documentation on implementing the Standard in councils
  • Test the tools and your API feed
  • Present your services (specifically products which adopt the Standard) to councils
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The next event from the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government to promote adoption of Open Referral UK is Meet early adopters of Open Referral UK from 11:00 to 12:30 GMT on Tuesday 28 January 2025. We expect a recording to be made available after the event.

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Here’s a video of the Meet early adopters of Open Referral UK event organised by the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government to promote adoption of Open Referral UK. The event was held on 28 January 2025.

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A “Show & tell” is being held at 2:00 pm (BST) on Tuesday 30 September 2025 to update everyone on work managed by the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to encourage adoption of Open Referral UK.

This is a chance to get a full update on our progress, hear what the community is saying, and learn about our future plans.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

  • A quick overview of what Open Referral UK is and why it’s so important for connecting people to the services they need. We’ll highlight the key benefits and our overall mission.
  • What we’ve been up to: A deep dive into our recent work, including new website features, data feeds, and our new ‘use cases’ catalogue, and our efforts to connect with other government initiatives.
  • What’s next: A sneak peak at what we’re working on next
  • We’ll spotlight some of the key conversations happening on our forum, sharing what’s important to you right now.

This is a great way to see what others are discussing and how you can get involved.

Register here for this Zoom event.

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Here the video of the Open Referral UK: A Community Show and Tell event that was held on 30 September 2025.