UK’s ‘Outdated’ Public Sector Tech Blamed for £45B Loss — AI to Lead Public Sector Reforms

Key Takeaways

• The U.K. government has unveiled a new suite of AI tools to improve “archaic” technology throughout the public sector.
• Taxpayer-funded services are missing out on £45 billion in productivity savings.
• The news comes just days after Prime Minister Kier Starmer revealed a new AI action plan for the country.

The U.K. government has claimed “archaic” technology in public sector services is causing billions of pounds in productivity losses.

In a new report  published on Tuesday, Jan. 21, the government unveiled plans to save up to £45 billion in productivity savings with a new suite of AI tools for civil servants.

The new tools follow the release of Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s bullish “AI Opportunities Action Plan,” which he claims has put the U.K. on course to become an AI superpower.

U.K. Gov New AI Agents

As part of the government’s new plans to leverage AI and technology, Westminster has unveiled an AI suite  of tools known as “Humphrey.”

The tools include “Consult,” which analyses thousands of responses received through government consultations. It then presents the individual consultations into interactive dashboards for presentations to policymakers, showing what the general public is saying.

This process currently takes an outsourced third party of consultants and analysts months to prepare and costs the taxpayer around £100,000 every time, the government said.

Humphrey also includes a generative AI tool to help civil servants prepare briefings and other day-to-day tasks.

Science Secretary Peter Kyle said that “sluggish technology” has cost everyone a “fortune in time and money.”

“My department will put AI to work, speeding up our ability to deliver our Plan for Change, improve lives and drive growth,” Kyle said.

“We will use technology to bear down hard to the nonsensical approach the public sector takes to sharing information and working together to help the people it serves.”

Outdated U.K. Tech

In a news release  announcing the report on Monday, Jan. 20, the government claimed taxpayer-funded services, such as the NHS, were missing out on £45 billion in productivity savings.

Government findings report that over one in four digital systems used by the government were found to be outdated. In some cases, this figure reportedly tripled to 70%.

“This outdated technology can rack up huge maintenance costs, ultimately resulting in the taxpayer paying out three-to-four times more than if the technology was kept up to date,” the release said.

As almost half of public services cannot be accessed online, the government claims public sector workers spend too much time dealing with offline admin.

“This means response times are unnecessarily long with British citizens paying the price and wasting valuable time on government admin,” the government said.

The news release, signed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and other government agencies, claimed that some departments were managing over 500 paper-based services.

“… a lack of information sharing between departments further hampers citizens, often the most vulnerable,” the release read.

According to the government, patients with long-term health conditions can be forced to speak to over forty different services to access the care they need.

As public bodies rarely share information, vulnerable people are being forced to repeat themselves constantly.

Kier Starmer Bullish on AI

The news comes just days after Prime Minister Kier Starmer revealed  a new AI action plan to establish the U.K. as a world leader in AI.

Starmer’s new action list marks a major U-turn from Conservative leader Rishi Sunak’s safety-first plan.

As part of the plan, the government will establish “AI growth zones,” which aim to streamline data center planning processes and accelerate the provision of clean energy to power these facilities.

The government also plans to increase public computing capacity twentyfold by 2030, including developing a new national supercomputer.

Starmer said AI “will drive incredible change” in Britain and “has the potential to transform the lives of working people.”

“Our plan will make Britain the world leader,” the U.K. PM added.