GOV.UK Pay

By automating payment through GOV.UK Pay, Formsite effectively “de-risks” the council and ensures that no application is even seen by an officer until it is fully funded.

The Automated Payment Workflow

1. Digital Application: The applicant completes the Section 50, Skip, or Scaffolding form on Formsite.
2. Instant Fee Calculation: Formsite automatically calculates the total fee based on the permit type, duration, and any required inspections.
3. Mandatory Payment: Before the “Submit” button becomes active, the user is redirected to a secure GOV.UK Pay portal.
4. Secure Transaction: The applicant pays via Credit Card, of Bank Transfer Formsite never touches or stores payment details.
5. Submission & Verification: Once payment is confirmed, the application is officially submitted. The council officer receives a “Validated & Paid” application, complete with a unique transaction reference.

Key Benefits of Formsite and GOV.UK Pay

For Finance & IT Directors Total PCI Compliance: Eliminates the risk of staff handling sensitive card data. By using the GOV.UK Pay interface, the council’s “compliance footprint” is drastically reduced.

• Zero Revenue Leakage: By making payment a prerequisite for submission, you eliminate the debt recovery phase. There are no unpaid invoices to chase and no lost application fees.
• Automatic Reconciliation: Every application is linked to a specific transaction ID, making it easy for finance teams to reconcile bank statements against the licensing register.

For Highways & Street Works Managers

• No More “Admin Phone Calls”: Your skilled officers stop acting as cashiers. They no longer spend hours on the phone taking manual payments or chasing contractors for credit card details.
• Validated Workloads: Officers only spend time reviewing applications that are already paid for. This ensures the team is focused 100% on safety and coordination, not administration.
• Instant Receipts: The system automatically issues a receipt to the applicant, further reducing follow-up enquiries to the office.
• Payment-Before-Submission: Stop the administrative burden of chasing fees. Formsite ensures every application is 100% funded before it even reaches your desk.
• Remove PCI Compliance Risk: Stop taking card details over the phone. Our GOV.UK Pay integration moves the entire transaction to a secure, government-approved environment.
• Automated Fee Calculation: Eliminate manual pricing errors. Formsite calculates the exact cost—including inspections and deposits—dynamically based on your council’s fee schedule.
• Support for Modern Payments: Give your contractors the flexibility to pay via Apple Pay, Google Pay, or standard Debit/Credit cards through a trusted GOV.UK interface.
• Seamless Finance Integration: Every payment comes with a digital audit trail, linking the Scottish Road Works Register, and the financial transaction in one record.

 

• Comparison: Manual vs. Formsite Payments

Feature	The Manual Way	The Formsite + GOV.UK Pay Way
Staff Time	10–15 mins per application (calls/admin).	Zero. The system handles 100% of the transaction.
Payment Security	High risk (staff hearing/typing card numbers).	Gold Standard. PCI DSS Level 1 compliant.
Bad Debt	High (invoices often go unpaid).	Zero. No payment = no application.
Applicant Experience	Frustrating (waiting for a callback).	Instant. Pay and submit 24/7.
Reconciliation	Manual matching of bank lines to PDFs.	Automated. Transaction ID is baked into the record.