Delta is the main platform the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) uses to collect data and make payments. Part of the department’s Funding Service, it helps the department make policy decisions, release national statistics and process payments to local authorities.
Last year, Delta handled:
- 260 live data collections with almost 1.5 million form submissions
- The processing of almost £47 billion. This money funds all sorts of things, from helping disabled people make adaptations so they can stay in their homes, to providing accommodation to domestic abuse survivors
- 500 internal active users, including analysis, policy and finance teams
- 12,000 external active users – predominately local authorities, as well as fire, police, housing associations and charities
Listening to users: the need for change
Delta has served the department since 2017, when it was built to replace its predecessor LOGASNet. Over the past 8 years, it has become a widely used and important system. We have consistently worked on Delta, introducing a case level approach to data collections, improving site navigation and accessibility, and making updates based on user needs.
While these improvements were valuable, we knew there was room for a more fundamental transformation and our users agreed too.
In 2024, we surveyed more than 700 external users and 30 internal users to understand their experience of Delta. Almost 50% found the system unnecessarily complex and more than 30% struggled with navigation. This was summed up by one user who said: “The system is clunky and not easy to navigate or search for the data that you want.”
Enter Delta 2.0
We developed Delta 2.0 to directly address this user feedback. The aim of the new version was to improve and simplify the interface and improve the technical build.
We introduced GOV.UK design patterns to make the new interface easier to use and more accessible. We improved navigation, summary information and how data is shown, and introduced clear signposting for data submission. These changes went through rigorous user testing, to make sure the designs met user needs.
We also improved the way Delta functions technically, making the infrastructure less complicated and more secure, removing bugs, and reducing the hosting costs from £1.3 million to £0.4 million – a 70% saving.
On 4 December 2024, we successfully launched Delta 2.0, with no service downtime and no issues.
Impact and next steps
The initial response to Delta 2.0 has been positive, with users rating the changes 4.15 out of 5 in terms of satisfaction – an impressive score!
Users have shared encouraging feedback, including:
The new dashboard is much cleaner… also useful to see which other officers are signed up … layout is clear and good and [I] like the useful links.
It is much easier to see how many records have been uploaded for each return. I like how the deadline with the days remaining is clear on the new pages too.
Looking ahead, we’ll be making changes for internal users, building on what we’ve learnt from this work to improve the Submissions Dashboard.
Find out more
To find out more about Delta, or for information on the wider work of the service, contact FundingService@communities.gov.uk. Follow our progress by subscribing to the MHCLG Digital blog and reading our latest blog posts.
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