diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/a11y_investigation.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/a11y_investigation.md
index 41cc7cc4b9..a4db09fab8 100644
--- a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/a11y_investigation.md
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/a11y_investigation.md
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: A11y Investigation
-about: Details an accessibility investigation that needs to be done 
-title: '(A11y) - '
+about: Details an accessibility investigation that needs to be done
 labels: ["a11y", "triage"]
 assignees: ''
 
diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md
index 93c841a2c3..1fb2d7d1c7 100644
--- a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: Bug report
 about: Create a report to help us improve
-title: '(Bug) - '
 labels: ["bug", "triage"]
 assignees: ''
 
diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.md
index 60079188ab..0361d36395 100644
--- a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.md
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.md
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: Feature request
 about: Suggest a feature/enhancement for NewsKit - External teams should use this instead of story,task,spike etc.
-title: ''
 labels: ["request", "triage"]
 assignees: ''
 
diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/spike.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/spike.md
index ff905ed1cb..0a5889e0c5 100644
--- a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/spike.md
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/spike.md
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: Technical Spike
 about: Details a piece of technical research or an investigation that needs to be conducted
-title: '(Spike) - '
 labels: ["spike", "triage"]
 assignees: ''
 
diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/story.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/story.md
index d2e79f2ba2..9b054ce7b4 100644
--- a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/story.md
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/story.md
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: User Story
-about: Details a specific user facing feature 
-title: '(Story) - '
+about: Details a specific user facing feature
 labels: ["story", "triage"]
 assignees: ''
 
diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/task.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/task.md
index 28cae8c0bc..de9b4370e7 100644
--- a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/task.md
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/task.md
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: Task
 about: Details a task
-title: '(Task) - '
 labels: ["task", "triage"]
 assignees: ''
 
diff --git a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
index 3bc92f8894..540c150ef7 100644
--- a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
+++ b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-PPDSC-XXXX
+<!-- Replace #000 with github issue number e.g #1234 -->
+#000
 
 **What**
 
diff --git a/.github/release.yml b/.github/release.yml
index c1394a974b..5a7d154bde 100644
--- a/.github/release.yml
+++ b/.github/release.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ changelog:
         - fix
     - title: Documentation 📝
       labels:
-        - doc
+        - docs
     - title: Other Changes 🧱
       labels:
         - "*"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/githooks/commitmsg.js b/githooks/commitmsg.js
index a83e039ec6..4ac7f448a0 100644
--- a/githooks/commitmsg.js
+++ b/githooks/commitmsg.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ const read = require('@commitlint/read');
 
 const customMessages = {
   'scope-enum': {
-    level2: 'The scope should be a Jira ticket number',
+    level2: 'The scope should be a GitHub issue number',
   },
 };
 
diff --git a/githooks/constants.js b/githooks/constants.js
index cb5aa511c6..c007ad4770 100644
--- a/githooks/constants.js
+++ b/githooks/constants.js
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 const chalk = require('chalk');
 
 const TYPES = ['docs', 'feat', 'fix', 'refactor', 'revert', 'upkeep', 'spike'];
-const SCOPE_REGEX = /^[A-Z]{2,5}-\d{1,5}$/;
+const SCOPE_REGEX = /^[A-Z]{2,5}-\d{1,5}|\d{1,5}$/;
 const PLAIN_PREFIX_ERROR_MSG =
-  "The commit message should be in the format 'type - fix/feat/etc(ticket-number): message'";
+  "The commit message should be in the format 'type - fix/feat/etc(issue-number): message'";
 const FORMATTED_PREFIX_ERROR_MSG = `The commit message should be in the format ${chalk.bold(
   "'type",
 )}${chalk.reset.dim(' - fix/feat/etc')}${chalk.bold(
diff --git a/githooks/preparecommitmsg.js b/githooks/preparecommitmsg.js
index dd50952212..46d3a770c2 100644
--- a/githooks/preparecommitmsg.js
+++ b/githooks/preparecommitmsg.js
@@ -40,12 +40,11 @@ const createPrompts = ({type, scope}) => {
           SEM_VER_COMMIT_TYPES[SEM_VER_COMMIT_TYPES.length - 1],
     },
     {
-      message: 'Enter the Jira ticket number for this commit',
+      message: 'Enter the github issue number for this commit',
       name: 'scope',
       transformer: input => input.toUpperCase(),
       type: 'input',
-      validate: input =>
-        SCOPE_REGEX.test(input.toUpperCase()) || 'e.g. PPDSC-1608',
+      validate: input => SCOPE_REGEX.test(input.toUpperCase()) || 'e.g. 1608',
       when: !scope,
     },
   ];
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ const createPrompts = ({type, scope}) => {
 
 const getBranchData = ({type, scope}) =>
   new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-    const branchNameRegex = /^(?:(\w*)\/)?([a-z]{2,5}-\d{1,5})?/i;
+    const branchNameRegex = /^(?:(\w*)\/)?([a-z]{2,5}-\d{1,5}|\d{1,5})?/i;
     exec('git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD', (err, stdout, stderr) => {
       if (stdout && typeof stdout === 'string') {
         const matches = stdout.trim().match(branchNameRegex);
@@ -102,6 +101,7 @@ if (msgFilePath) {
     )
     .then(({scope, type, ...parsed}) => {
       // remove any already defined type and scope info
+
       const message = parsed.raw
         .replace(type, '')
         .replace(`(${scope})`, '')