Providers with services that have been certified against the beta (0.3) of the trust framework need to prepare to uplift their certification to align with the gamma (0.4) publication. To do that, service providers naturally want to know what’s different between the two publications.
To help with this, we’ve been asked variously for some kind of document with a gap analysis or assimilation matrix. A quick guide that says “in beta we said this and in gamma we say that now instead”.
There are no shortcuts to gamma uplift
That guide doesn’t exist. We don’t have one internally. The conformity assessment bodies haven’t been given one. We won’t be publishing one for providers either. We’ve intentionally decided not to create that kind of document.
We called the beta, “beta” because that’s exactly what it was. Something in development, with some rough edges that we knew needed to be smoothed out. We spent a long time speaking to businesses and members of the public about how it could be improved.
The result is that, in the gamma publication, the entirety of the trust framework and the new supplementary codes were redesigned, restructured, and often completely rewritten. Nearly every section and paragraph is at least slightly different – and in some cases very different – from the content that was in the previous publication.
So much has changed or moved that, on a practical level, to explain what’s different would mean creating a document almost as lengthy as the trust framework itself.
It’s also been three years since we originally published the beta trust framework. With such extensive changes and with that period of time, we think it’s a good idea for service providers to take the opportunity to review their services top-to-bottom and end-to-end against these new rules. Creating a “cheat sheet” for gamma could encourage providers to only focus on the most significant changes and not on the rest of the rules.
If you’re a service provider, we think your time could be better spent considering the current trust framework document and whether your service is compliant; not on an adjunct guidance document that has the potential to make things more confusing. So we deliberately haven’t created it.
The next uplift will be smaller
We’ve taken this approach on this occasion because of the context of this uplift. For the next iteration of the trust framework – what we’re calling 1.0 – we expect the changes to be smaller. That will enable us to take a more nuanced approach next time.
For now, our advice to service providers is to get into the weeds of gamma. Treat this as an opportunity for a spring clean; do a review of your whole service and check your service meets all the rules, not just the new ones.
Reminder
All services certified against the beta (0.3) trust framework will expire on 31 March 2026. Service providers must uplift their certification to align with the gamma (0.4) trust framework and relevant supplementary codes before this date, or their services will no longer be certified and those services will be removed from the GOV.UK register.
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