Public Authority Hosting
Public Authorities in the UK are required by law to provide certain information to meet the aims of open, transparent and accountable government via a website.
County, City, Local, or Parish councils can achieve this affordably and compliantly by choosing one of our Public Authority Hosting Plans and GOV.UK domain name registration
Public Authority Hosting
An affordable range of Public Authority Hosting Plans to suit any organisation. Our range of plans enables us to meet your needs on almost any budget, to ensure you are Transparency Code compliant, no matter what your previous level of web experience.
Public Authority
Essential
Essential
STARTING FROM
£5.99
PER MONTH- Transparency Compliant
- GDPR Compatible
- SSL Security Let's Encrypt
- 1 Website
- 5GB Web Space
- 15 Email Accounts
- CMS Enabled
- Responsive Site Template
- Softaculous App Installer
- UK Customer Support
Public Authority
Standard
Standard
STARTING FROM
£19.99
PER MONTH- Transparency Compliant
- GDPR Compatible
- SSL Security PositiveSSL
- 1 Website
- 20GB Web Space
- 50 Email Accounts
- CMS Enabled
- Responsive Site Template
- Softaculous App Installer
- UK Customer Support
Public Authority
Large
Large
STARTING FROM
£44.99
PER MONTH- Transparency Compliant
- GDPR Compatible
- SSL Security Certum Commercial
- 1 Website
- 50GB Web Space
- 200 Email Accounts
- CMS Enabled
- Responsive Site Template
- Softaculous App Installer
- UK Customer Support
Public Authority
GOV.UK Domain
GOV.UK Domain
STARTING FROM
£30.00
PER YEAR- £110 Initial Registration
- Public Authority Only
- Parish / Village Council
- Local / Community Council
- Town / City / Unitary Council
- Joint Public Authority
- Port Health Authority
- Fire Services
- Police & Crime Commisioners
- Registration Assistance
Public Authority Hosting Features List
Just some of the many benefits and easy to use features available to you with your Public Authority Hosting Plan.
Transparency Code
Enables your authority to comply with the requirements of the Transparency Code. Publish key spending and governance information online, according to the schedule required by the code.
GOV.UK
Assistance to register your gov.uk domain name for qualifying organisations. Once your application has been submitted for consideration and approved, you'll be able to use a gov.uk domain name.
User Training
User training is available at competitive rates should you need it, to enable users to maintain and expand the information published via your web presence to engage and benefit your community.
cPanel Enabled
cPanel is the No.1 choice for domain control panels and in use since 1997. It's rich, intuitive feature set makes completing any website or email administration task quick and efficient.
Email
Easily control every aspect of your domain's email accounts and functionality. Add, Edit and Remove users, create email forwarders and filters. Fight Spam with SpamAssassin
File Manager
Easily manage your web space. Upload, download, move, create, edit and delete files directly from within your control panel. Set access permissions and more using a simple Graphical User Interface.
Backup Wizard
Quickly create and restore full and partial backups of your websites, databases, email filters and email forwarders with just a few clicks. Download your backups to store locally.
Database Management
Control all aspects of your accounts MySQL databases and users with either phpMyAdmin or with your control panels database interface. Rename Databases and reset user passwords.
Email Auto-Responders
Set-up your desired autoresponder in less than a minute. Great for out-of-office or holiday notifications. Use advanced scheduling and filters to create a highly customised experience for senders.
Domain Control
Using the included Domain manager you get total control of your domains. You can manage DNS settings, alias, park and redirect the domains you own. You can create and manage sub-domains too.
SSL & Security
Order and install SSL security certificates on your domains without any technical knowledge. Activate Two Factor Authentication (2FA) for account Sign-In to secure access to your control panel even more.
Virus Scanner
Run the included Clam AV scanner to search for potential viruses. This enables you to ensure your website files and emails don't present a threat to you or your site visitors.
Softaculous Apps Installer
All our hosting plans come with the Softaculous Apps Installer. Choose from over 490 software apps and install the software you want with a few clicks in minutes.
Site Metrics
Get important information about your websites and visitors using AWStats or Webalizer. View and download RAW access logs for your sites. Get bandwidth reports and error logs.
Linux Servers
Our hosting plans are all operated on Linux servers. Linux is a highly stable and robust server OS. Linux was built with security in-mind. Linux has a massive developer and support base.
AWS Infrastructure
We use Amazon's highly reliable, massively scalable and high performance distributed network infrastructure to deliver outstanding service for you, your community and the general public.
Account Portal Integration
Seamless Client Account integration of your hosting plan means you can access all of your account information. View your services, invoices, payments and support tickets.
Payment Options
Choose from a range of options to pay for your Public Authority hosting plan. You can select to pay monthly or annually using Paypal, a Credit or Debit card, Direct Debit or Bank Transfer
Public Authority Hosting Frequently asked questions (FAQ's)
Find answers to some of the frequently asked questions about our Public Authority Hosting Plans.
Is DS4A an approved GOV.UK Registrar?
Yes. DS4A is an approved registrar for the provision of GOV.UK domain names. Whilst we will assist with, and submit your registration approval, the acceptance of any domain is at the sole discretion of the GOV.UK 'Naming and Approvals Committee' (NAC).
Are there any special rules or requirements for GOV.UK domain names
Yes. As you would expect for such a highly trusted domain name there are a strict set of policy rules and requirements for the naming and use of GOV.UK domain names. Only specified public authorities are able to use GOV.UK domains. Various checks and documentation requirements are in place to ensure compliance.
For comprehensive information regarding the registration and use of GOV.UK domains please visit the following resources on the GOV.UK website:
Public Authorities: Naming and registering government websites
How long will it take to register our GOV.UK domain name?
Domain registration of your GOV.UK domain name typically takes between 5-20 days. Whilst we will assist with completing and submitting your registration for approval, the acceptance of any domain is at the sole discretion of the GOV.UK 'Naming and Approvals Committee' (NAC).
Can we upgrade our plan if we need to?
You can either upgrade your Public Authority hosting plan to the next plan tier at any time. Alternatively you can add those additional resources you require. This could be additional webspace, bandwidth or email accounts for example. As your web presence grows, your Public Authority hosting plan will grow with you. You can upgrade to the next plan or add resources easily and quickly via your client account area.
Can we add more webspace, emails etc, without upgrading to the next plan?
Certainly! We provide resource add-ons for web space, email accounts and bandwidth. You can simply provision additional resources without upgrading to the next plan tier. However at some point the cost benefits of upgrading your plan to the next tier will be more financially prudent. You can upgrade to the next plan or add resources easily and quickly via your client account area.
Can we pay for our hosting plan monthly or annually?
All of our Public Authority hosting plans allow you to chose the most convenient payment frequency for you, whether that be monthly or annually.
How do we get help if our Public Authority plan doesn't appear to be working correctly?
Should you need support because something doesn't appear to be working, we will ensure it's not because of a problem with your hosting plan. This level of support is provided free with your plan, as you would expect.
What if we need help with our website, an integration or customisation?
If you need help to customise CMS templates, or to have an entire website designed for you we can do this. Maybe you need help to set-up and customise an app you've installed? We can do all of that for you at our standard support rates.
What about backups of our website and emails?
Your Public Authority hosting plan enables you to take manual backups of your website and emails. These can be stored in your webspace or you can download them to your local computer. Many of the apps that you can install via the included Softaculous Apps Installer allow scheduled backups to be run and stored in your web-space. If you need a more professional and automated backup solution, you can use our BackupPlus service, this makes automatic daily, weekly or monthly backups of your entire web-space, emails and databases and stores them securely away from your web-space for complete peace of mind.
Need help? You can Contact our support team anytime
UK based support, Use our Client Ticket system, Email us or call 0333 344 2286 to Contact DS4A