Changing gear on digital spending could boost local authority resilience

It’s a challenging time for local authorities (LAs), as a never-ending list of priorities and an increased demand to drive savings on squeezed budgets continue to strain resources. What effects does digital spending have on LA resilience?

In such a taxing climate that threatens to push 14 unique councils to issue a section 114 notice this financial year, there is little wonder that investment in digital infrastructure can fall further down the agenda.

However, while many local authorities are facing difficult financial circumstances, it’s important that they prioritise digital spending. Investing in new digital technologies offers LAs exciting opportunities to deliver impactful change, such as meeting rising customer expectations, improving internal processes, and upskilling their staff. By taking a customer-centric approach, coupled with an intelligent use of data, LAs can transform services and bring greater organisational resilience within reach.

Where can digital spending bring the greatest value?

As public-facing organisations, LAs must place their end customers at the centre of digital change. Most have a wealth of information to better understand their customers, whether it’s satisfaction feedback, website engagement metrics, or data on call length queues—all of which must be assessed to identify where digital spending can bring the greatest value. Data-informed decision-making ultimately delivers what the customer needs by giving local authority teams the right tools and knowledge to execute services impeccably.

This customer-centric approach to investment should engage all levels of the local authority workforce. Whilst the senior teams might feel the onus is on them to make quick decisions, they can share the load and empower every corner of the organisation to play a role. By adopting an organisation-wide approach to digital spending, they are helping people become more digitally adept in the long term.

Ensuring up-to-date IT infrastructure

Many LAs are held back by the continued application of legacy business systems and processes. They often struggle to fund upgrades or choose the right digital solutions. LAs can fall out of step with current digital trends because their IT infrastructure has not been updated to support modern, more agile technologies. This impacts the efficiency of internal tasks and external service delivery.

The evolution of time and cost pressures LAs are facing also means that staff learning and development can get pushed to the wayside. This could depower the digital confidence of LA workforces overall. Whilst investing in digital tools is a good start, they only begin to bring value and change for good when people are comfortable using them. This needs to be coupled with a sound understanding of the upgrades or alternatives on the market. Asking the right questions and knowing when to level up digital infrastructure is often half the battle.

The inconsistency of digital infrastructure

Nationally speaking, the picture of digital infrastructure is complex and inconsistent across local governments. For example, some care workers out in the communities have to manually communicate information regarding their casework. This can increase the risk for errors or missed details as information is shared with wider teams. Access to the right digital tools would allow care workers to monitor and report on those in their care with greater efficiency and precision.

Digital investment could also bring more value to the management of local government housing stock. By introducing Internet of Things (IoT) sensors into properties, damp and mould cases could be better assessed, addressed, and mitigated across housing tenancies. These technologies track and relay data on their condition to housing teams. This would enable them to take a proactive rather than reactive approach to maintaining stock, better supporting the well-being and satisfaction of tenants.

Artificial intelligence and automation

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are providing more opportunities for LAs to improve customer experiences too. Whilst AI might be a buzz word, its role as an enabling technology does have the potential to transform digital self-serve significantly across a number of services. For example, some LAs are investing in AI-powered chatbots to help people navigate their websites or make requests online.

Having a chatbot, alongside a data platform and knowledge bank of the organisation, can quickly enable the bot to access and share relevant information with the customer. This streamlines service processes and allows people to access services how, when and where they want. AI-powered systems also promise to deliver huge productivity benefits to local authority workforces by functioning as an enabling tool that builds efficiencies into processes and drives strategic priorities across the organisation.

Receiving the true rewards of digital change

The advantages of digital spending are clear, but LAs will need to change their current approach to investment if they are to reap the true rewards of digital change.

Some local authorities struggle with investing to save, given the tight budget boundaries they must operate within. However, those who flex their budgeting skills and cut financial and time costs in the future will be stronger for it.

Collaboration with partners and suppliers, such as the NHS and local businesses, and cooperation with other local authorities are equally important to digital transformation. Understanding and meeting customer needs cannot be achieved effectively through siloed working. It’s, therefore, crucial that LAs engage with third parties to glean intelligence that will further inform digital decision-making.

A customer-centric picture

The digital landscape is no longer just about technology and is instead an evolving, customer-centric picture that requires flexibility to keep up with. Taking an iterative approach to digital change is, therefore, necessary and will allow individuals to become digital leaders at their own speed. With little choice but to move with the times, LAs must change gears when it comes to digital spending; for the benefit of their customers and future alike.

This piece was written and provided by Rebecca Bartlett, principal consultant and digital transformation lead, and Allan Gordon, programme director at business change consultancy, Entec Si. Both are specialists in local government digital transformation.