Local government has historically been, and should again become, an engine of national renewal.
It is local government that we encounter perhaps most frequently in our dealings with the state. From some of the most mundane parts of our day to some of our biggest life events. It supports us and our families at our most vulnerable and shapes our sense of community. Much more than this, it can be the driving force behind progress, economic growth and infrastructure on which our shared prosperity is built.
Local representatives run on this vision. Take one look at the agenda for this week's Local Government Association Conference. The focus is overwhelmingly on building councils that are not just resilient to future challenges, but deliver in the face of them.
This highly visible role also, unfortunately, means that when it doesn't work, we know about it. Whether it's struggling to get support on a housing issue, gaining access to care provision for a loved one, or driving over a pothole, we don't have to ask you to imagine a frustrating interaction with the council. Because most of us have lived it. In fact, recent research suggests more than four in 10 people say council services are frustrating to deal with, compared to two in 10 for insurance. That is a low bar.
The problems that have led us here are systemic and the challenges faced by councils – of an aging population, a housing crisis, of ever-pressing needs on health and social services – are more urgent than ever. Councils are hard pressed for resources, with a projected funding gap of £16bn by 2029 to meet current service needs. Seven have gone bankrupt since 2018. Council tax is going up in most places and, in more and more cases, funds are being diverted from investment in the local economy or local services, to those needed to fulfil statutory duties. Planning applications go unapproved, bins uncollected, communities and citizens suffer.
The engine is stuttering to a halt.
What is needed is a new, transformative, and disruptive mode of delivery, built on the tools of the tech revolution that change the hard trade-offs councils face.
AI is the greatest tool we have at our disposal; the tool that means you don't have to choose between social care, good roads or strong local economies.
Local government has not always been on the front foot with technology. Only 2% of its staff are in digital roles. But increasingly, we are seeing recognition among local leaders that trying to solve 21st century problems without 21st century tools is like trying to send an email on a typewriter.
Among its forward-looking programme, the LGA Conference is hosting numerous sessions on how technology can support wide-ranging challenges from waste disposal to fostering creativity. Councils are sharing success stories, learning from one and other. The ambition and appetite needed is there. Scale, however, is not quite yet.
For our paper ‘Governing in the Age of AI: Reimagining Local Government', we worked with a local council to understand the tasks performed by their public servants, and where AI could support them. The results were astounding; almost a quarter of all their tasks could be automated with technology as it exists today, saving one million hours of work for that council alone a year.
Think about what those million hours per council could be allocated to. Clearing the social care backlog, so that vulnerable children and adults are seen quickly by social workers with the time to listen, rather than reaching crisis point. Initiatives that don't just support people experiencing homelessness but prevent it happening in the first place. Planning applications approved magnitudes of times faster, so that local redevelopment and housing projects can break ground and drive the growth communities need. And yes; the potholes filled.
All of this would happen while improving citizen experience. No more would you have to spend weeks feeling helpless as you chase a response from the council, because an AI triage service has instantly got your query to the right office and communicated its status back to you. No more filling out tens of pages of forms over and over again to get what you need, because now the council can reach out to you with services instead. No more waiting weeks for a repair, because your council has the availability now. You might not get a million hours back – but it could feel like it.
There are costs associated with these savings too. Across England and Wales, this productivity gain would equal £8bn a year, or £325 per household – half of the projected funding gap. It would ultimately be a political choice for councils to decide how to use these gains – whether to re-allocate the time, to invest more in some services, to put it back in taxpayers' pockets. Likely, for most, it would be a combination of the three. But no matter what you think the best allocation of this saving is, it's hard to argue that we should not make it.
Local governments and their public servants work hard for their communities; it's time for that work to bear results. Councillors of all political colours have an opportunity to make their legacy one of leadership and progress, rather than one of struggle and impossible trade-offs. By championing AI, they can put our councils on the path to becoming engines of renewal again and reimagine how we serve our communities.
Alexander Iosad is the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change's Director of Government Innovation Policy
