diff --git a/app/__init__.py b/app/__init__.py
index 2dfa886a3..8b24a6623 100644
--- a/app/__init__.py
+++ b/app/__init__.py
@@ -77,11 +77,7 @@ def create_app():
 
     application = Flask(__name__)
 
-    if os.getenv('VCAP_APPLICATION') is not None:
-        vcap_application = json.loads(os.environ.get('VCAP_APPLICATION'))
-        notify_environment = vcap_application['space_name']
-    else:
-        notify_environment = os.environ['NOTIFY_ENVIRONMENT']
+    notify_environment = os.environ['NOTIFY_ENVIRONMENT']
 
     application.config.from_object(configs[notify_environment])
 
diff --git a/app/cloudfoundry_config.py b/app/cloudfoundry_config.py
index e096122a9..efd554019 100644
--- a/app/cloudfoundry_config.py
+++ b/app/cloudfoundry_config.py
@@ -9,10 +9,15 @@ import json
 
 def extract_cloudfoundry_config():
     vcap_services = json.loads(os.environ['VCAP_SERVICES'])
+
     set_config_env_vars(vcap_services)
 
 
 def set_config_env_vars(vcap_services):
+    vcap_application = json.loads(os.environ.get('VCAP_APPLICATION'))
+    os.environ['NOTIFY_ENVIRONMENT'] = vcap_application['space_name']
+    os.environ['LOGGING_STDOUT_JSON'] = '1'
+
     for s in vcap_services['user-provided']:
         if s['name'] == 'notify-config':
             extract_notify_config(s)
diff --git a/app/config.py b/app/config.py
index 75e0a39a7..e6035e5da 100644
--- a/app/config.py
+++ b/app/config.py
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ class Config(object):
     # Hosted graphite statsd prefix
     STATSD_PREFIX = os.getenv('STATSD_PREFIX')
 
+    # Logging
     DEBUG = False
+    LOGGING_STDOUT_JSON = os.getenv('LOGGING_STDOUT_JSON') == '1'
 
     DESKPRO_DEPT_ID = 5
     DESKPRO_ASSIGNED_AGENT_TEAM_ID = 5
@@ -122,9 +124,7 @@ class Live(Config):
 
 
 class CloudFoundryConfig(Config):
-    # debug on true is a less than ideal hack to enable stdout/stderr logging
-    # TODO: replace this!
-    DEBUG = True
+    pass
 
 
 # CloudFoundry sandbox
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 219552cb8..9093e56d3 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ wand==0.4.4
 gunicorn==19.6.0
 whitenoise==1.0.6  #manages static assets
 
-git+https://github.com/alphagov/notifications-python-client.git@3.0.1#egg=notifications-python-client==3.0.1
+# pin to minor version 3.1.x
+notifications-python-client>=3.1,<3.2
 
-git+https://github.com/alphagov/notifications-utils.git@13.0.1#egg=notifications-utils==13.0.1
+git+https://github.com/alphagov/notifications-utils.git@13.1.0#egg=notifications-utils==13.1.0
diff --git a/tests/app/test_cloudfoundry_config.py b/tests/app/test_cloudfoundry_config.py
index b0804683c..ba17fdede 100644
--- a/tests/app/test_cloudfoundry_config.py
+++ b/tests/app/test_cloudfoundry_config.py
@@ -71,6 +71,15 @@ def cloudfoundry_config(
 @pytest.fixture
 def cloudfoundry_environ(monkeypatch, cloudfoundry_config):
     monkeypatch.setenv('VCAP_SERVICES', json.dumps(cloudfoundry_config))
+    monkeypatch.setenv('VCAP_APPLICATION', '{"space_name":"🚀🌌"}')
+
+
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures('os_environ', 'cloudfoundry_environ')
+def test_extract_cloudfoundry_config_populates_other_vars():
+    extract_cloudfoundry_config()
+
+    assert os.environ['LOGGING_STDOUT_JSON'] == '1'
+    assert os.environ['NOTIFY_ENVIRONMENT'] == '🚀🌌'
 
 
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures('os_environ', 'cloudfoundry_environ')
diff --git a/tests/app/test_config.py b/tests/app/test_config.py
index 8c90c0b12..eb4dd1e5f 100644
--- a/tests/app/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/app/test_config.py
@@ -53,6 +53,22 @@ def test_load_config_if_cloudfoundry_not_available(monkeypatch, reload_config):
     assert config.Config.API_HOST_NAME == 'env'
 
 
-def test_cloudfoundry_config_has_different_defaults():
-    # these should always be set on Sandbox
-    assert config.Sandbox.DEBUG is True
+def test_logging_stdout_json_defaults_to_off(reload_config):
+    os.environ.pop('LOGGING_STDOUT_JSON', None)
+    assert config.Config.LOGGING_STDOUT_JSON is False
+
+
+def test_logging_stdout_json_sets_to_off_if_not_recognised(reload_config):
+    os.environ['LOGGING_STDOUT_JSON'] = 'foo'
+
+    importlib.reload(config)
+
+    assert config.Config.LOGGING_STDOUT_JSON is False
+
+
+def test_logging_stdout_json_sets_to_on_if_set_to_1(reload_config):
+    os.environ['LOGGING_STDOUT_JSON'] = '1'
+
+    importlib.reload(config)
+
+    assert config.Config.LOGGING_STDOUT_JSON is True