Title

If you wanted, you can now use AI to scan all planning notices within three miles of your home and object to every application.This is just one daunting example of AI use, but it is not just NIMBYs who are rejoicing.Many residents are turning to generative AI to draft parking appeals and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests with just a few clicks, meaning Britain's councils are facing a surge in increasingly complicated complaints and queries.A confirmed AI-driven campaign generated at least 1,588 objections to a single Manchester planning application last year.This is not what the proponents of digital channel shift had envisaged.Policy lead for digital leadership at senior officers' group Solace, Alison McKenzie-Folan, said councils were ‘increasingly seeing AI drive higher volumes' of complaints, appeals and information requests while Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) said AI was becoming more apparent in the fields of education, adult social care, housing and planning.LLG chief executive Deborah Evans said: ‘It probably started to become noticeable about six months ago but then it really ramped up. People are using it indiscriminately. It feels at the moment like everyone [in the sector] is playing catch up because it's exploded so quickly.'Local government insiders said councils could not currently afford to staff up on handling the sheer number of complaints and in-house departments had not yet developed agentic bots to adequately respond.McKenzie-Folan said: ‘While AI makes it easier for people to generate and submit detailed responses at speed, councils still need to review and respond to them fairly and thoughtfully, creating significant resource pressures.‘Councils are also exploring how AI can help them respond more effectively and efficiently, for example, by summarising lengthy complaints, identifying recurring issues, spotting wider patterns and improving access to information.‘As AI use continues to grow, the challenge for councils is not simply managing increased volumes, but ensuring they can continue to provide compassionate, human responses while drawing out the insight needed to improve services.'National head of public sector at law firm Trowers & Hamlins, Amardeep Gill, added: ‘What we are seeing is an endless cycle of back and forth on certain types of complaint. It's just something that sucks resource.'Digital best practice manager at the London Office of Technology & Innovation, Sarbjit Bakhshi, said AI explained the fact that FOI and subject access requests were ‘increasing for every council'.For Telford & Wrekin Council, latest figures showed it received 1,338 FOI requests in a year, up 6%, with response rates dipping as volumes rose, while Merton LBC has reported a 7% rise.Digital transformation expert David Catling, who worked in the private sector before moving to local government, said: ‘You can't throw more humans at it. Councils do have to start thinking differently. Councils have got to be proactive and follow the trends.‘I know councils are not good at these things. They are very stakeholder driven – not very citizen-driven. They've got to move.‘I guarantee one thing: citizens are moving with the times. We've got to be able to deal with it head on, we've got to be able to keep up with it. The flip side of that is if you don't, you're in trouble.'Local Government Ombudsman Amerdeep Clarke said ‘complaints that may well have made use of AI' and the use of AI in legal challenges to decisions were increasing.Clarke continued: ‘When used well, AI can be a genuinely useful tool that helps people navigate the complaints process, supporting the democratisation of complaint-making and helping make our service more accessible to those who might otherwise struggle to put their concerns into words.An MHCLG spokesperson said: ‘AI can help citizens interact with councils more easily and quickly than ever before, which is a good thing, but we recognise this can mean councils have higher volumes of enquiries to respond to. This is something we are looking at closely and will continue to monitor as we work with councils and our other partners in the local government sector to understand where AI can be used safely, responsibly and effectively.'‘However, we would urge people to use AI tools with discretion. In a growing number of cases, AI content is making complaints, and FOI and subject access requests, more complex than they need to be for us to assess them, which in turn has an impact on how quickly we can look at people's concerns and on our resources.'The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said earlier this year it was ‘seeing an increase in requests and secondary correspondence that appear[s] to have been drafted by generative AI'.ICO guidance read: ‘Practitioners tell us that requesters have begun to use AI to help them make information requests. This may explain the increase in requests received by many public authorities in 2025.'But the ICO also recognises there are ‘current and potential benefits in using AI for FOI handling', adding: ‘It could speed up triaging incoming requests, identify relevant information and help monitor response times, among other potential benefits.'Evans said ‘a lot of councils are looking at policies as a way to control this' including introducing a fixed word count on submissions or asking residents to verbally explain their issues.She added: ‘What doesn't necessarily work is using AI to respond. At the moment there's lots of different people doing what they can. The sector needs to move together on this.'Evans said the sector was working on fresh guidance while some experts have called for ‘clear guidelines' from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), which has started working with councils to test early ideas, learn from tools already in use across the sector and identify opportunities to improve public services.An MHCLG spokesperson said: ‘AI can help citizens interact with councils more easily and quickly than ever before, which is a good thing, but we recognise this can mean councils have higher volumes of enquiries to respond to. This is something we are looking at closely and will continue to monitor as we work with councils and our other partners in the local government sector to understand where AI can be used safely, responsibly and effectively.'Catling continued: ‘I think we're at a tipping point now. You've got to keep up with demand, which means you've got to start with your customer – your citizens, your businesses. You've got to look at how they do things; not how you do things.‘Everyone's going away and doing proof of concepts, but generally all councils are facing the same problem. They all seem to be working in isolation. What I struggle with is the variation in quality across different councils.‘We're in a very disruptive world now. You've got to change all the time. If you just look at the risk and the cost, you're missing out on what the opportunity looks like.'Bakhshi is another who is broadly positive about the impact of AI on society despite the risk that councils will be overwhelmed by demand, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as agentic flooding.He added: ‘It's something that local government needs to cope with. I don't think it will lead to greater costs for local government if councils also use agentic AI to reduce their own administrative burden.'With many councils lacking the time, effort and resources to build their own agentic AI solutions, LOTI has facilitated a collaborative project to help boroughs connect their own services and interact with residents directly.A project overview on the LOTI website explained: ‘This will mean the resident gets a quicker resolution to their problems, and councils can answer the overwhelming number of Gen AI-powered applications.‘The team will explore what barriers might prevent boroughs from adopting these models, revealing gaps or technical requirements, such as legacy integration issues.'Trowers & Hamlins senior associate Matt Whelan said: ‘Some councils are a bit more savvy with the use of AI. Even with the use of AI there is still a massive resource requirement. It's really starting to cause issues for councils.‘I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all approach that's going on at the moment. I think there are opportunities to work more collaboratively across the sector on this.'LOTI has now partnered with techUK and Barking & Dagenham LBC to ‘map out delivery options for councils looking to deploy agentic AI'.The overview continued: ‘LOTI will focus on advocacy and knowledge sharing of agentic AI as participants emphasised that successfully deploying agentic AI requires strong senior leadership buy-in and depends just as much on culture, process and engagement as it does on technology.'Chair of the Local Government Association's (LGA) public service reform and innovation committee Cllr Richard Clewer said the LGA expected ‘AI-enabled engagement to grow as these technologies become more capable, accessible and affordable'.He warned: ‘Addressing the challenge is likely to require a combination of existing legislative safeguards, clearer guidance on AI use, process redesign, responsible deployment of technology, and potential future government action to ensure regulatory frameworks remain fit for purpose.'Gill said: ‘I think it's very visible on council chief executives' radar. I think senior leadership is very alive to it.'Catling, who collaborated with LOTI on its agentic AI project, added: ‘You can't have hierarchies. You've got to let the best voice in the room get heard. You can't be having senior leadership not having a general understanding of AI functions.‘I think local government will rise to the challenge. There are some really good minds in there. They've just got to be heard.'

Title

AI

Drowning in AI tide

By Dan Peters | 08 September 2026

Popular articles by Dan Peters

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING

Popular articles by Dan Peters