The Open Referral UK (ORUK) community continues to grow, helping to improve how local service data is shared across the UK.

As more councils adopt the standard, the result is richer, more consistent datasets that make it easier for people to find and access the services they need.

What’s new

We’re pleased to welcome Shropshire Council to the growing list of councils using the Open Referral UK standard. 

By using Placecube’s Open Place Directory to adopt the standard, Shropshire now meets version 3.0 of the ORUK standard. This upgrade aligns with the international Human Services Data Specification (HSDS), bringing more consistent naming conventions and improving access to services.

Leading the way with upgraded feeds are:

• Bristol City Council
• North Lincolnshire Council
• Shropshire Council

Alongside Placecube, we’re excited to see support from People Places Lives and LocalGov Drupal.  

Current work

We’re actively working on:

• a case study with BCP Council, who have been doing fantastic work for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole residents. We’ll be sharing their story soon
• our next cross-government steering group meeting, which brings together our group of ‘changemakers’ championing ORUK implementation across government
• exploring how MHCLG can best support local government adoption, helping more councils realise the benefits of standardised service data

What’s coming up

We know it can be challenging to explain the benefits of data sharing and reuse across your organisation. To help, the ORUK team is developing a catalogue of practical examples that show how the standard can be used. These examples are designed to:

• inspire new use cases 
• support conversations with senior leaders
• strengthen business cases for adoption 

We’ll be testing these examples with users in August and September, and plan to share them with the community soon.

If you’re interested in taking part in a session, contact us at [email protected].

Feedback from the community

A huge thank you to everyone who took part in our latest survey and offered valuable insights on strategic data use, adoption challenges, and learnings from their journey so far. We’re reviewing your responses and will share updates soon. Our goal is to make ORUK adoption as straightforward as possible and make sure you have the resources you need. 

Get involved

If you’re already using the ORUK standard but are not listed on our verified feed directory, please register your feed so we can showcase your work.

To take part in a user research session, email us on [email protected].

For further updates and to connect with the community:

• visit the ORUK website to explore resources and learn more about the standard
• subscribe to the ORUK mailing list for news and updates 
• subscribe to the Local Digital newsletter
• subscribe to the MHCLG Digital blog