Government & Public Sector App Development

Why Public Sector App Development Matters

Modern public sector app development is defined by the shift from legacy software to user-centred digital services. For local authorities and healthcare providers, this transition is essential to maintain service delivery under increasing budgetary pressure. We focus on creating tools that reduce administrative overhead while ensuring every citizen can access the help they need.

As of 2026, the demand for mobile-first public services has never been higher. Whether it is a local council digitising waste management or an NHS trust providing maternity support, the goal remains the same: efficiency through better technology. Our work on the Hansard Society web portal demonstrates this by making complex Parliamentary activity accessible and searchable for the public. When we built VoteMatch for the 2015 General Election, the platform was white-labelled by The Telegraph for their election coverage and handled over 100,000 concurrent users on polling day - proving our ability to deliver national-scale civic technology under zero-downtime requirements.

By prioritising GDS Service Standards (the set of rules ensuring government services are consistent and user-focused), we help organisations pass service assessments and launch successfully. We understand that in the public sector, a "finished" product is just the beginning of a multi-year service lifecycle that requires ongoing support and security monitoring.

What is Government & Public Sector App Development?

This service involves the design and build of software specifically for public bodies, including local councils, central government, and the NHS. Unlike private sector apps, these products must adhere to strict legal requirements regarding data privacy and inclusivity.

Public Sector Apps vs. Commercial Apps

The primary difference lies in the mandate for universal access. While a commercial app might target a specific demographic, a public sector app must be usable by everyone, regardless of their technical ability or hardware. This requires a deep commitment to WCAG 2.2 accessibility, the international standard for making web content more accessible to people with disabilities.

We integrate primary entities like information architecture (how content is organised) and user research to ensure the final product reflects how citizens actually behave. For example, our work with Medway Council and Kent County Council prioritised clear navigation over complex visual flourishes, ensuring that essential services remained functional even on older devices or slow connections.

Why Businesses Choose Tinderhouse for Public Sector Projects

Local authorities and healthcare trusts choose us because we bridge the gap between high-level policy and technical execution. We do not just build to a brief; we interrogate requirements to ensure the solution is sustainable.

Proven Public Sector Track Record: We have delivered critical digital infrastructure, including an NHS app providing educational experiences for new mothers and VoteMatch, the national election platform trusted by The Telegraph, The Independent, and 38 Degrees to help millions of voters find their political match.

Risk Mitigation: Our 20 years of experience mean we anticipate common hurdles in public sector procurement and security audits.

Cost Efficiency: We use Progressive Web Apps (web-based applications that function like native apps) to reduce development costs by targeting multiple platforms with a single codebase.

Our work on the My Lost Account banking portal, used daily by every major bank in the UK, proves our ability to handle high-security, high-traffic government-adjacent services. We focus on risk reduction, ensuring that data handling meets the highest standards of the Data Protection Act and GDPR.

The Public Sector Development Process

Our process is designed to align with the GDS lifecycle: Discovery, Alpha, Beta, and Live. We focus on critical decision points to ensure the project remains on track and within budget. Our approach to every project is built on a proven mvp app development framework, where we use a rigorous technical discovery phase to turn complex ideas into high performance, market ready applications.

1. Discovery and User Research

We begin by identifying the real problem that needs solving. This involves talking to stakeholders at organisations like Kent Community Health NHS to understand user pain points. We define the MVP (Minimum Viable Product), which is the version of a new product that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning with the least effort.

2. Alpha Prototyping

During Alpha, we build prototypes to test different solutions. This is where we address technical debt, the long-term cost of taking shortcuts in code quality. By making the right architectural decisions early, we prevent expensive maintenance work later.

3. Beta Development and Integration

In Beta, we build the functional service. We follow Agile methodology. These are short development cycles that let us adapt as we learn from user feedback. We often use API-first architecture (designing the data layer before the interface) to ensure the app can integrate with existing council or NHS databases.

4. Live and Ongoing Support

Launching is not the end. We provide ongoing support across all projects, ensuring software remains secure and compatible with new OS updates. Our mobile app company philosophy is built on long-term partnership rather than one-off delivery.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

In our experience, many public sector projects fail because they prioritise "feature richness" over core utility. Here are the pitfalls we help you avoid:

Ignoring Accessibility until the End: Accessibility should be "baked in" from the first line of code. Retrofitting a non-compliant app to meet WCAG 2.2 standards is often more expensive than starting again.

Building Over-Complex Backends: We have seen projects burdened by technical debt because they tried to integrate with legacy systems without a clear API strategy.

Neglecting User Testing: Without real-world testing with diverse user groups, you risk building a service that people cannot or will not use. Our work on the Field worker app succeeded because it was designed around the actual daily routines of staff on the ground.

Cost and Timeline

Public sector projects typically range from 12 weeks for a focused MVP to 12 months for complex enterprise-level portals. Costs are influenced by the level of third-party integration required and the rigour of the security testing needed.

For example, a PWA for a property company or local council task management might be delivered faster than a full NHS-integrated clinical tool. We are transparent about these factors from day one. We recommend reading our guide on business app development to understand how we balance functionality with budget constraints.

Is This Right For You?

This works well if you:

• Require a partner who understands GDS standards and the UK public sector landscape.
• Need to integrate new digital services with complex legacy databases.
• Are looking for a Kent or London-based team for close collaboration with your internal IT and policy leads.

This may not be right if:

• You need a "quick and dirty" solution that bypasses standard accessibility or security protocols.
• You are looking for the cheapest offshore delivery without local accountability or long-term support.

How Tinderhouse Works

Based at the Innovation Centre in Canterbury and in London, we operate as a conversational peer to your internal technical teams. Our approach is grounded in practical engineering rather than marketing hype.

We use CI/CD pipelines (automated testing and deployment systems). These catch bugs early and allow us to release updates safely and frequently. This is particularly vital for projects like the My Lost Account portal, where downtime is not an option.

Our enterprise app development services focus on scalability patterns, ensuring that a service built for one department can grow to serve an entire county. We also specialise in ExpressionEngine, having been specialists since version 1. This allows us to build highly customised, secure content management systems for portals like the Hansard Society.