Robotics in Local Government

Councils can no longer afford traditional cost-cutting approaches. Services can’t be reduced further and will continue to scale as the population increases and grows older. Digital transformation is the only way they can continue support the vast number of services demanded by citizens. To achieve a successful digital transformation, councils need technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) to automate repetitive tasks and free up staff for vital front-line work.  

These technologies can be delivered more quickly and cheaply than traditional solutions, as they work with the IT systems councils already have in place and do not need interfaces, which are expensive and can take a long time to build. 

Although every industry is embracing digital opportunities and has undergone, or is undergoing some form of digital transformation, Local Government has been particularly affected by a number of key issues.  

Significant budget cuts have led to local services closing, causing taxpayers to criticise their council.  

Councils must meet higher citizen expectations, who expect the same digital services they enjoy from firms such as Amazon 

An aging population is increasing demand for housing and social care 

Regulations changes, such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) have broad sweeping impacts across processes and IT systems 

Councils are looking for independence from Westminster’s centralised decision-making, enabling them to better respond to the needs of their local community.

Local governments need to respond to these changes, while supporting a growing range of services at a much smaller cost. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)  and artificial intelligence (AI) are the best ways to achieve this.  

Although every local council division can benefit from the introduction of Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Numerous forward-thinking councils are already experimenting with automation in a number of different areas. Most local council organisations start by automating high value transactions, where quality and accuracy is critical. This is typically in (1) revenue & benefits, (2) finance and (3) HR departments. Much of this work is rules-based, repetitive and time-consuming, an ideal fit for automation. Staff released from this admin work can then invest time enhancing council revenue. 

Common examples include Council tax, Social housing, Care in the community, Accounts receivables, Accounts Payable, Supplier setup, on-boarding new starters, leavers. 

T-Impact have already worked with multiple councils to create RPA solutions. We are well-placed to advise you on the best way to implement it and manage it on a daily basis.  

T-Impact robots can automate every aspect of Universal Credit claims, supporting the phased adoption without the need to hire more staff. Robots also ensure that personal bias does not affect decisions, ensuring all citizens are treated the same. Robots complete the standard processing, usually about 80% of the work, so staff only need to manage genuine exceptions. Robots perform all necessary data entry and transpose data across all relevant information systems, without data entry errors, removing the need for repetitive form completion and increasing data quality.  

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) s are commonly used for council tax because it is such as vital revenue stream for councils. T-Impact’s robotics works faster than any human to automate the time-consuming activities required to process council tax and deal with enquiries & exceptions. As they record data into your information systems, they check for errors and eliminate all data entry errors. One robot can have the same output as 20 staff members, making it the ideal choice for councils who cannot commit that level of human resources to their council tax management operations.