Council bosses have urged the Government to ‘empower’ local authorities after it set out new plans to overhaul digital technology and AI usage in public services.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has announced a ‘shake up’ of digital services in a bid to deliver £45bn in annual productivity savings.
This includes a new Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence to overhaul management of the £23bn the Government spends each year on technology.
Part of its work will be to consider how public sector organisations, including councils, can ‘negotiate costly contracts together to save money’.
The chairman of the Local Government Association’s improvement and innovation board, Abi Brown, said: ‘While there are already impressive examples of digital innovation in local government, leading to cost savings and improved resident experience, progress has been uneven and a worrying disparity remains across the country.
‘To truly unlock the potential of a digitally enabled public sector, central government must invest in a devolved and coordinated national effort to empower councils on their digital journey.’
She said this should begin with a Local Government Centre for Digital Technology to ensure that councils, regardless of location and digital maturity, benefit from digital transformation.
