Compare · UK public sector · UK Public Sector GitHub Observatory

Every organisation is harvested by the same pipeline and scored on the same conventions, measured from the file tree at HEAD of its live repositories. Archived repositories are excluded from scoring, and organisations with fewer than 10 live repositories are excluded from the league table entirely — a percentage over three repositories tells you nothing.

The estate

210

organisations harvested

119 large enough to score

25,626

repositories

21.3m

commits analysed

52,549

distinct committer identities

before cross-org identity resolution

What stands out

4,299 people have committed to more than one of these organisations.

Out of 40,283 resolved identities — 10.7%. Identity is resolved on GitHub's numeric account id where the commit carries one, and on exact email match otherwise; display names are never used, because a false merge would attribute one person's work to another. This is a floor, not a count: anyone who changed both employer and GitHub account appears twice.

10 of these organisations no longer exist.

Their repositories are still public and still counted, because a body that closed still published everything it published — but they are left out of every best-and-worst comparison on this page. SkillsFundingAgency replaced by Education and Skills Funding Agency (2017); NHSDigital merged into NHS England (2023); Crown-Commercial-Service renamed Government Commercial Agency (2026); govuk-paas GOV.UK PaaS, retired; openregister GDS Registers, retired; nhsx folded into NHS England; Health-Education-England merged into NHS England (2023); decc merged into Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (2016). Status comes from the GOV.UK organisations register wherever the body is on it, and otherwise from a short curated list of closed programmes that were never organisations in their own right. Never from how quiet a repository has gone — that is reported separately, as dormancy.

govuk-one-login scores highest across the board.

Mean of 67 across 8 ordinary engineering practices. These are generic measures - CI, dependency automation, a licence, tests - not GOV.UK house style, so an organisation that has never read the GOV.UK manual is still judged on its own terms.

A low CI score does not mean no CI - it means CI you cannot see.

In-repository CI ranges from 92% (westminster-city-council) to 0% (LambethCouncil). But LambethCouncil also carries READMEs in 90% of live repositories, licences in 40% and test directories in 20% - not the profile of an immature organisation. It builds on an internal platform rather than in GitHub, so the pipeline simply is not in these repositories. This scorecard measures visible practice, and that is a real limit on what it can conclude.

12% of all commits across the estate are automated.

Dependency bots dominate. This is the clearest sign that dependency automation has become normal across UK public-sector engineering, whatever else varies between organisations.

League table

Percentage of live repositories meeting each convention. Green at or above 75, amber at or above 40, red below.

Organisation	Live repos	CI (GitHub Actions)	Dependency automation	README	Licence	Containerised	Tests present	CODEOWNERS	PR template	Mean
govuk-one-login Other public body	158	83	74	99	76	39	22	82	61	67
uktrade Other public body	19	84	26	100	84	26	58	89	58	66
datasciencecampus Other public body	13	62	46	100	100	0	46	92	62	63
westminster-city-council Local government	13	92	46	100	100	23	46	38	62	63
govuk-pay Other public body	38	87	84	95	89	53	21	3	26	57
ministryofjustice Central government	1,194	84	45	95	85	59	17	41	11	55
ONSdigital Central government	453	48	13	98	70	26	25	85	55	53
UKForeignOffice Central government	14	71	21	100	64	93	64	0	0	52
DEFRA Central government	1,153	70	23	97	78	67	36	8	7	48
nhsuk Health	11	73	55	91	82	0	55	0	27	48
NHSDigital abolished Health	258	60	30	98	69	25	41	17	27	46
Planning-Inspectorate Other public body	43	9	51	88	95	56	12	21	35	46
hmcts Central government	1,031	57	10	95	70	39	14	45	32	45
cmagovuk Other public body	10	60	30	90	90	30	40	0	20	45
LBHackney-IT Local government	92	25	2	98	55	60	4	97	8	44
i-dot-ai Other public body	26	77	8	96	62	31	35	19	19	43
NHSLeadership Health	13	54	31	100	54	23	38	38	8	43
FoodStandardsAgency Other public body	12	50	25	100	92	42	25	8	0	43
alphagov Central government	396	55	34	95	68	32	18	9	20	41
LondonBoroughSutton Local government	10	10	0	100	70	40	50	10	50	41
moj-analytical-services Other public body	18	61	17	100	67	0	56	22	6	41
TechnologyEnhancedLearning Other public body	55	73	27	93	69	4	15	0	47	41
dvsa Other public body	162	53	3	96	77	10	47	6	33	41
HistoricEngland Other public body	22	36	5	95	73	55	45	5	9	40
govuk-once Other public body	25	64	28	92	32	8	24	40	24	39
department-for-transport Other public body	10	40	20	90	50	0	50	10	50	39
co-cddo Other public body	108	57	25	94	63	24	23	16	6	39
ukhsa-collaboration Health	132	47	9	98	65	27	28	14	18	38
Health-Education-England abolished Other public body	67	58	46	90	58	28	4	18	1	38
HMPO Other public body	26	54	0	81	96	4	62	0	0	37
cabinetoffice Central government	92	47	21	93	62	36	17	9	9	37
nhsbsa Health	126	25	16	92	88	4	44	2	19	36
UKHomeOffice-attic dormant Central government	61	0	0	98	44	80	66	0	0	36
gchq Other public body	57	42	12	95	82	33	12	4	7	36
MetOffice Other public body	110	42	5	95	90	5	20	10	21	36
ukaea Other public body	68	46	7	90	74	19	41	1	6	35
bank-of-england Other public body	16	38	0	100	94	0	50	0	0	35
UKHO Other public body	90	26	14	96	83	7	16	39	1	35
hmrc Central government	1,509	0	1	99	98	5	69	0	7	35
best-practice-and-impact Other public body	26	38	0	92	69	4	38	15	19	35
nhsx merged Health	99	38	1	100	91	9	15	3	19	35
communitiesuk Central government	161	48	23	88	51	24	22	4	17	35
digital-land Other public body	139	50	5	95	76	23	27	0	1	35
defencedigital Other public body	44	39	23	93	59	20	14	18	9	34
The-Strategy-Unit Other public body	131	26	1	94	80	2	15	54	0	34
wmfs Other public body	117	0	0	99	91	3	76	1	1	34
nationalarchives Central government	327	58	20	91	48	19	23	6	2	33
dvla Other public body	41	49	5	95	88	10	7	7	5	33
DFE-Digital Central government	657	39	16	87	65	26	15	6	11	33
thepensionsregulator Other public body	21	19	5	81	95	10	29	10	14	33
dhsc-govuk Other public body	20	35	5	95	65	25	30	0	5	32
Crown-Commercial-Service abolished Other public body	168	42	27	99	38	20	25	0	1	31
govuk-paas programme closed Other public body	167	20	14	97	73	26	5	0	13	31
ukgov-equality-hub Other public body	15	87	0	87	40	20	13	0	0	31
UKHomeOffice Central government	1,013	14	5	95	60	44	23	2	3	31
nhsbsa-data-analytics Health	38	47	0	95	68	0	26	0	8	31
companieshouse Central government	587	2	5	89	88	36	8	9	6	30
UKHomeOfficeForms Central government	21	10	5	100	71	10	48	0	0	30
stfc Other public body	207	32	8	92	60	12	21	7	9	30
LandRegistry Central government	85	22	9	81	75	34	9	7	1	30
Dorset-Council-UK Local government	15	73	0	80	73	7	0	0	7	30
HDRUK Other public body	166	29	4	96	60	25	13	8	5	30
CPS-Innovation Other public body	48	50	0	77	77	10	10	6	4	29
nhsengland Health	220	17	1	95	78	2	17	2	20	29
crossgovernmentservices dormant Other public body	49	0	0	86	53	53	35	0	4	29
nwisbeta dormant Other public body	14	21	0	93	57	29	14	0	14	29
bbc Public corporation	925	13	4	94	63	10	33	3	8	29
SkillsFundingAgency abolished Other public body	395	2	0	93	86	4	2	41	0	29
essexcountycouncil Local government	19	26	0	95	58	16	11	5	16	28
houseofcommonslibrary Other public body	18	0	0	94	78	0	50	0	0	28
mrc-ide Other public body	583	31	0	88	57	10	33	0	1	28
InnovateUKGitHub Other public body	24	0	0	100	71	25	25	0	0	28
NaturalHistoryMuseum Other public body	178	23	0	91	44	20	23	0	15	27
NHS-Transformation-Unit Health	26	15	0	100	96	0	4	0	0	27
GreaterLondonAuthority Other public body	14	36	0	93	79	7	0	0	0	27
intellectual-property-office Other public body	15	0	0	100	87	27	0	0	0	27
openregister programme closed Other public body	135	0	0	97	64	16	20	0	16	27
BBCS-PHI Other public body	45	9	0	100	96	0	7	0	0	26
LandRegistry-Attic dormant Central government	59	0	0	97	46	27	39	0	0	26
TransportForLondon Other public body	12	92	0	100	8	0	8	0	0	26
CDU-data-science-team Other public body	28	14	0	89	82	0	21	0	0	26
NationalCrimeAgency Police & emergency	15	7	0	100	93	7	0	0	0	26
dwp Central government	437	3	0	85	87	16	14	1	0	26
Civil-Service-Human-Resources Other public body	43	19	0	95	28	47	12	0	0	25
DFEAGILEDEVOPS Other public body	18	0	0	89	56	28	28	0	0	25
NHSE-NDRS Health	12	25	0	92	75	0	8	0	0	25
gds-operations dormant Other public body	11	0	0	100	82	9	9	0	0	25
britishlibrary Other public body	45	9	2	96	56	0	29	0	4	24
DFID abolished Other public body	12	8	0	100	67	8	8	0	0	24
east-sussex-county-council dormant Local government	67	0	0	100	91	0	0	0	0	24
MarineScotlandScience Other public body	10	20	0	90	60	0	20	0	0	24
BHFDSC Other public body	110	1	1	97	90	0	0	0	0	24
OptiMaL-PSE-Lab Other public body	34	15	0	97	59	9	9	0	0	24
NHS-digital-website Health	24	29	8	96	29	21	0	4	0	23
nice-digital Health	82	1	0	100	48	16	18	0	1	23
smbc-digital Other public body	73	37	0	95	11	1	10	0	30	23
WCSCourses Other public body	54	4	0	96	80	2	0	0	0	23
defra-design Central government	115	8	3	68	90	9	3	0	0	23
ukgovdatascience dormant Other public body	47	2	0	94	38	11	28	0	6	22
OrdnanceSurvey Other public body	127	6	0	98	53	11	8	0	2	22
warwickshire Other public body	25	0	0	92	40	0	44	0	0	22
scottishgovernment Devolved	24	0	0	83	71	4	17	0	0	22
gds-dead dormant Other public body	11	0	0	100	73	0	0	0	0	22
ONSBigData Other public body	38	3	0	92	55	0	16	0	3	21
StatisticsHealthEconomics Other public body	17	18	0	100	18	6	24	0	0	21
ukparliament Parliament	155	13	10	83	25	19	13	0	0	20
openglasgow Other public body	18	6	0	78	44	11	17	0	0	19
BritishMuseum Other public body	19	0	0	89	63	0	0	0	0	19
LambethCouncil dormant Local government	10	0	0	90	40	0	20	0	0	19
decc abolished Other public body	36	0	0	94	25	14	14	0	0	18
CJSCommonPlatform dormant Other public body	75	0	0	97	39	0	11	0	0	18
datagovuk dormant Other public body	88	0	0	90	28	1	24	0	0	18
digital-preservation Other public body	31	10	10	74	35	6	3	0	0	17
jncc Other public body	59	0	2	93	15	19	7	0	0	17
biglotteryfund abolished Other public body	15	0	0	87	33	0	13	0	0	17
edinburghcouncil dormant Local government	11	0	0	100	27	0	0	0	0	16
fsadata dormant Other public body	130	0	0	100	1	0	0	0	0	13
ONS-OpenData Other public body	48	0	0	83	6	2	0	0	0	11
NHS-ESR-IAs Health	35	0	0	9	0	0	0	0	0	1

91 organisation(s) with fewer than 10 live repositories are excluded from scoring, because a percentage over three repositories is noise: nhsuk-archive, ukwa, dstl, RoyalBoroughKingston, ukncsc, UK-Export-Finance, InsolvencyService, govuk-forms, OfqualGovUK, NHSE-Talking-Therapies, SCC-Planning, TransportScotland.

Read this table with one caveat.

It measures what is visible in a public repository. An organisation that runs its builds on an internal Jenkins or an enterprise platform scores zero on CI while being no less rigorous — HMRC is exactly that case, with almost no in-repo workflows but READMEs, licences and tests almost everywhere. The mean column is a summary of observable practice, not a ranking of engineering quality, and it should never be quoted as one.

Scale

Repositories per organisation

Commits per organisation

Public corporation
Central government
Parliament
Devolved
Health
Police & emergency
Local government
Other public body

Convention by convention

CI (GitHub Actions)

Dependency automation

README

Licence

Containerised

Tests present

What each organisation is written in

Share of source bytes by language, top ten organisations by size.

ministryofjustice — HTML

DEFRA — JavaScript

hmcts — Java

hmrc — Scala

ONSdigital — HTML

alphagov — HTML

UKHomeOffice — Java

bbc — C

DFE-Digital — HTML

companieshouse — HTML

Movement between organisations

Reported in aggregate only. Individuals are never named, edges below the suppression threshold are withheld, and no email address appears anywhere on this site — the public-interest case for examining how public bodies build software does not extend to publishing a career history of the people who do it.

How many organisations each person commits to

Counting resolved identities. The overwhelming majority appear in exactly one, which is what makes the minority who do not interesting.

Organisations that share engineers

Edges with fewer than 3 people in common are suppressed: at that size an edge describes individuals rather than a pattern, and this page reports aggregates only. 1496 pair(s) suppressed on that basis.

Head to head

Ministry of Justice vs HM Courts & Tribunals Service

HMCTS is an executive agency of MOJ, so this is the closest thing the dataset has to a controlled comparison: same department, same policies, separate engineering organisations.

Convention	MOJ	HMCTS	Diff
CI (GitHub Actions)	84%	57%	-27
Dependency automation	45%	10%	-35
README	95%	95%	+0
Licence	85%	70%	-15
Containerised	59%	39%	-20
Tests present	17%	14%	-4
CODEOWNERS	41%	45%	+3
PR template	11%	32%	+21

275 committer identities appear in both organisations — 6% of everyone who has committed to HMCTS. MOJ carries 2,396 repositories against HMCTS's 1,878, but HMCTS has 1.5× the commit volume.