Government turns to AI to save £45bn in public service spending  – UKTN

The government hopes to save as much as £45bn spent on public services through tech upskilling and the outsourcing civil service work to AI. 

In a speech made on Thursday, Prime Minister Kier Starmer said the state had grown larger but weaker and a digital transformation was required to “deliver for working people”. 

“If we push forward with the digitisation of government services. There are up to £45bn worth of savings and productivity benefits, ready to be realised,” the prime minister said. 

This digitisation will take two forms. The first is growing the tech capabilities of the civil service. The government intends to launch apprenticeships and training schemes to boost technology skills in public sector departments, with an initial target of 2,000 additional tech apprenticeships by 2030. 

The government plans to create entire AI and tech teams within the public sector with a target of 10% of civil servants working in “tech and digital rolls” in the next five years. 

Secondly, Starmer has doubled down on his ambition to deploy AI tools across the state, hoping to increase efficiency and slash costs. 

Among these efforts is an AI call centre “helper” that was built in partnership with Citizens’ Advice on behalf of the technology department. 

DSIT claimed initial tests of the AI helper showed it could halve the amount of time it takes call handlers to respond to complex queries. 

“There is a £45 billion jackpot to secure if we use technology properly across our public sector – but we can’t hope to come close to securing that if we don’t have the right technical talent with us in government,” said Tech Secretary Peter Kyle. 

Kyle said the digitisation of public services will “save taxpayer cash by slashing the need for thousands of expensive contractors and create opportunities across the country across the country as part of our Plan for change”. 

There are around 515,000 full-time civil servants in the UK, according to figures from the Institute for Government, costing around £19bn a year in salaries. 

In 2023-24, the government spent £3.4bn on private consultants, according to data company Tussell, a figure more than 60% higher than five years prior. 

Read more: Majority of Brits don’t trust AI in healthcare despite government push 

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