Moving to a Parish Council .gov.uk domain? Ask VCS

Moving over to a .gov.uk domain? Just ask VCS.

We use long-established and approved registrars Mythic Beasts in Cambridge, who are authorised to process .gov.uk domains. We have also arranged services with them to provide a very affordable Email Package to move your clerk (and all councillors, if required) onto secure, parish council email.

Please contact us for advice and a quote for your domain and email needs.

Q: Do I have to get a .gov.uk?

A: No, not yet. It is a recommendation, and for any council who is redoing their website with us to make it compliant, we would advise you to get the new name at the same time. There are rumours it may become a requirement, and this seems more likely now that the registration cost has dropped to a more sensible level.

Q: What names can I choose?

A: The choice must be carefully considered to be accepted. The example given by CDDO for parish councils are:

bonbyparishcouncil.gov.uk OR bonbyparish.gov.uk OR bonby-pc.gov.uk.

Other variations may be accepted, for instance using a common geographic name everyone knows locally, but may cause delays.

Q: What happens to our old .org.uk domain name?

A: Don't worry. we can redirect that into the new website for you, all automatically and at no extra charge.

Q: Can you get us the £100 grant from NALC?

A: No. We don't subscribe to that system, nor does our .gov.uk supplier (and we will not change supplier). To get the £100 you have to do the NALC training course, fill in the forms and then go to a NALC supplier to buy a package from them. We believe this will work out costing many hundreds of pounds more than what we supply, even without the £100 grant. Without this bureaucratic application process to go through, we expect to be able to supply your needs on a much shorter timescale.

Q: How much does a .gov.uk cost?

A: For Parish Councils who have a website with us, the cost can be just £19.60 per annum! We believe we are the cheapest available.

Q: I am an existing client, a clerk with a .org.uk and clerk's email address. How much, all in, to convert me over to a .gov.uk with clerk's address, and move over my emails?

A: Just £221 for 10 years!
You pay £196 + VAT to our trusted names supplier. The domain is registered in your Council's name. (You reclaim the VAT.)
You pay us just £25 to set up the new domain and email address and we transfer your emails over from your .org.uk address, and redirect the old domain for you. 
After that, the running costs for email remain exactly the same low price as you pay now.

Q: Will our hosting cost increase with the new domain name?

A: No - there is just the one-off nominal set up fee as above, to move your website over.

Q: Do we have to buy 10 years of a .gov.uk?

A: No - but it works out vastly cheaper than shorter periods, as this is a special deal we have set up to be cheapest available!