County Spotlight shines a light on how councils are embracing technology, as survey shows that nine in ten are now using AI

Almost nine in ten of England’s largest councils are using artificial intelligence (AI), but say a lack of staff capacity, funding and training is holding back local authorities rolling out this technology more widely.

With the government this year promising to ‘turbocharge’ AI usage over the next decade, the County Councils Network (CCN) says that councils will be a vital part of the equation on the success or otherwise of this pledge, but concerns over funding and staffing will need to be addressed.

A survey carried out by the CCN found a willingness for county and unitary councils to adopt AI across their services: 85% of respondents said they have been using AI, with the remaining 15% considering adopting or trialling this technology.

For the councils that have rolled out AI, more than three quarters (77%) are using it within administration, seven in ten (70%) are using it within adult social care, and half (54%) are using AI in children’s services and within roads maintenance.

The findings were revealed in a new CCN County Spotlight report, which profiles how county and unitary councils are using  latest technology and digital advances to improve local services.  It shows how those councils are breaking new ground by deploying AI within their services, such as using the ‘world’s first’ pothole preventing robot, alongside examples such as saving staff time by transcribing calls and providing AI-generated recipes for residents.

Download the County Spotlight report here.

But despite significant progress in using AI over the last few years over, nine in ten (93%) county and unitary councils said that staff capacity was a barrier to rolling out AI or deploying it more widely, and almost three-quarters (71%) said staff lacked the necessary training. A separate CCN study last year revealing that county areas had seen their workforces shrink by 33% since 2012.

In addition, seven in ten (71%) county and unitary councils say funding is a barrier to deploying AI. Local authority leaders warns that unless these staffing and funding issues are addressed, there is a real risk this AI revolution in local services ‘runs out of steam’.

This year will also see the conclusion this year of the ‘fair funding review’, which seeks to update the distribution of central government funding to councils. The CCN warns that if money is ultimately redistributed away from county areas it will leave those places with little scope to invest in AI and broaden its use, leading to an urban vs rural divide as to what areas are able to spend on the latest technology to improve public services.

For those that have adopted AI, nine in ten (93%) respondents to the CCN survey said it had improved staff productivity and three-quarters (77%) said it had improved services.

In terms of drawbacks, nine in ten (93%) councils cited ethical considerations and seven in ten (71%) said a lack of workforce to roll out AI more widely was a negative. Over half – 57% said that the potential for disinformation was another drawback.

As well as AI, this edition of the County Spotlight contains innovative and best practice examples from county and unitary councils on technology within people-based services, technology in economic growth, and data and analytics. In total, the report contains 16 case studies from across the CCN membership.

Cllr Richard Roberts, Economic Growth Spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said:

“It’s no exaggeration to say that AI offers the potential to revolutionise local services. As this report reveals, councils have been exploring AI across a range of intuitive proposals, including pothole preventing robots and in transcribing support calls.

“But our survey shows that despite the clear enthusiasm and ambition of county and unitary councils to explore and utilise AI even more, funding and staffing capacity issues run the risk of this progress running out of steam at a vital time and one when government wants all four corners of the country to be firing on all digital cylinders.

“If government wants to truly turbocharge AI usage across England, then it needs to maximise the potential in all four corners of the country. That means ensuring that county and unitary areas are fairly resourced in the fair funding review, enabling them to invest in technology as well as working with local government to address workforce capacity issues.”