Public Service Reform Operational Summit: Workshop Feedback 14 October 2025

Workshop 4: Digital Common Components

Summary of workshop:

The workshop featured a presentation and discussion led by the SG Digital Directorate on the range of Common Components currently available and those under development. This was followed by an interactive session focused on service patterns. Service patterns are a reusable design solution that addresses common service design problems, helping to create consistent and efficient user experiences across various services.

Participants were invited to discuss digital services they are currently developing or improving. They were asked to map the service journey from start to finish and identify which service patterns would apply. Where existing patterns did not fully reflect their needs, participants were encouraged to note additional requirements or gaps.

Attendees were split into two groups for the exercise.

• Group 1 considered improvements to the “Get your pension” service.
• Group 2 explored options for a new digital service to support the monitoring of individuals who would otherwise be electronically tagged, for example through a dedicated app

Both groups drew on their own service areas to inform proposed service patterns to support their design thinking.

Participants also queried the cost of using Common Components. It was confirmed that pricing varies by component. Many are provided free of charge, while others - such as the SG Cloud platform - involve costs based on usage.

Points of discussion:

• Resilience - balancing the risk across multiple platforms, in case of hacks and down time, what are the emergency approaches?
• Assisted digital – whose responsibility is it to build the alternative non-digital channel?

Questions:

• Web v App – Has the communication changed? Digital Services Division and Digital Component Infrastructure Division within in the Digital Directorate are working towards the actions set out in the PSR strategy and Digital Strategy.
• How is Scottish Government working with the public sector to make common components available Scottish Government will work in collaboration with Local Authorities in line with the action outlined in the Digital Strategy to be published shortly. There is an action with the Digital Strategy that supports this for the adoption of the App - By 2028, Scottish Government will have developed a public service app to enable users to access personalised public services. We will work collaboratively with COSLA and individual local authorities to consider how they might adopt and make best use of this app. Beyond Scottish Government’s pilot on proof of age, as we work to deliver this, you can expect to see local authorities across Scotland moving their services onto the public services app.
• At the moment a citizen would have 3 accounts - UK gov, SG, local authority is there a long term ambition to streamline these apps together. The initial release will be in March 2026, following which it will roll out to the wider public sector as required. To support this we have established relationships with the UK Gov App team and the Digital Front Door App team.
• Will you integrate with UK gov and local authorities – how would it work. How do you integrate with services that are getting built? Focus is currently on the initial release in which integration with the UK Gov app is not planned. The Digital Directorate is looking at the concept of having a Common Components Integration Service.
• Cloud Platform Service – If an organisation moves to the Cloud Platform Service does the workload risk pass to SG? The Cloud Platform Service works using a shared responsibility model – Cloud Platform Service provides the infrastructure layer and takes responsibility for the risks associated with this. The individual organisation retains responsibility for the security maintenance and operation of its workloads using the Cloud Platform Service.
• What will the app be called? How do you market it? We will confirm the name as soon as possible and plan to hold regular ‘Show and Tell’ sessions to raise awareness.

Actions:

• The Scottish Government to advise organisations about the schedule for the App and the associated ‘Show and Tell’ sessions.