The gov.uk site, used by millions for essential services such as tax returns and passport renewals, will see its traditional black masthead turned blue and its ‘dot’ coloured turquoise.
The tweaks were commissioned as part of “brand refresh” with contracts totalling £532,000 handed to global ad agency M&C Saatchi.
The costly new logo, set to go live this month, has already met with ridicule from civil servants, with one mocking online: “Did someone really get paid to move a dot?”
Others labelled it “cheap”, “tacky” and “absolutely diabolical”.
Zia Yusuf, head of Reform UK’s efficiency drive, last night branded the revamp a waste of public money.
He said: “The disrespect for taxpayers’ money continues to be astounding.
“Spending more than £500,000 on changing a logo on a government website is a joke at the taxpayer’s expense, quite literally.
“This is just the kind of thing we have been uncovering in county halls on a daily basis. It’s abundantly clear that Whitehall also needs a visit from Reform’s DOGE team.”
Two contracts for the brand refresh were tendered by the previous Conservative government and carried on under Labour, according to publicly available papers.
Communications giant M&C Saatchi secured deals potentially worth up to £750,000.
A government source said the final bill came to £532,000, which the cost drawn from existing department budgets.
The new logo was criticised on web forums used by civil servants....<<<Read More>>>...