The Expert View: Transforming UK Regional Government

At a recent Business Reporter dinner hosted at the House of Lords by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Salesforce, senior figures from UK regional governments gathered to discuss how digitisation can transform regional government services.

 

Introducing the briefing, Louise Ashbrook, Area Vice President, Healthcare, Transport and Local Government, at Salesforce, said that a key challenge is to use technology to design services around the best possible citizen journey.

 

Designing the Citizen Journey

It was clear that a deep understanding of citizens’ specific needs must guide the design of public services. Services should be designed for the hardest-to-reach citizens, one delegate said, because if those people can use the service, then it’s reasonable to assume that everyone else will be able to. However, parts of the journey often go wrong because of people’s lack of understanding of the system.

 

One attendee gave the example of a police force mapping the victim’s journey through the criminal justice system to determine where improvements can be made. Victims don’t always understand the divide between different service providers (nor should they have to care), so they might assume the police are responsible for something that is actually the Crown Prosecution Service’s domain, for example.

 

Even within services, such as healthcare, information is not always passed between organisations. An attendee from a hospital said that patients often expect staff to have access to their complete medical records and are surprised to find that is not the case.

 

Islands of Trapped Data Pose Challenges  

  
The situation would be simpler if citizen’s data was shared wherever it was needed at the appropriate time, but data siloes and the fragmented nature of service delivery make this difficult. This is true in healthcare, in particular, which attendees described as 250 separate organisations with one public-facing front.

 

Each part of the government has its own perspective on the same citizens. “We’re all trying to help them from within our silos,” an attendee remarked. This hinders a seamless experience for citizens and wastes resources. For instance, one agency might have data indicating that a citizen would benefit from help by another agency. Someone with asthma might benefit from having mould removed from their home, for example. But even when this data is identified, there isn’t typically a mechanism for passing it on and taking proactive, targeted actions.

 

There was some concern about data ownership, however. Some attendees seemed reluctant to add to their data responsibilities, citing GDPR as the reason. Organisations have responsibilities as controllers or processors of data, while citizens have certain rights about how their data is used. However, one participant suggested this was simply an excuse.

 

The legislation isn’t a barrier to improving public services, and organisations should refer to the Information Commissioner’s Office, who provide guidance, alongside practical tools, to help organisations be confident they can share data within the law. At the end of the day, it all comes down to consent–citizens can be given a choice whether to share data to improve services provided to them.

 

Shifting to Preventative Service Models

Moving from reactive to preventative service models offers a powerful opportunity to meet citizen needs while potentially reducing long-term costs. For example, one local authority is using Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to address noise complaints around construction sites and monitor indoor air quality for dampness or mould. These preventative measures improve service quality and reduce the need for costly, post-issue interventions.

However, financial limitations restrict the deployment of such technology. “There are preventative measures in health, but they require devices that are too expensive for us to buy in sufficient quantities,” one official said.

 

Procurement was cited as a complex issue: individual departments frequently source their own technology solutions, creating inefficiencies and driving up costs. “We could get a better deal if we negotiated all together, at a national level,” a participant argued.

 

While a national procurement approach could provide greater purchasing power, past attempts at centralised procurement have often locked departments into restrictive contracts, stifling innovation. Balancing procurement at both local and national levels emerged as an essential but unsolved challenge.

 

The culture of having to respond to significant short-term pressures, partly driven by political cycles, was seen as an obstacle. One attendee said that when citizens fall into rent arrears, they become significantly more likely to need mental health services within two years. However, local agencies, working under strict financial pressure, often find it difficult to prioritise interventions in the short-term.

 

Working Backwards from Citizen Needs

As one speaker put it, “It’s very difficult to plan an extension if your kitchen is on fire.” The urgency of immediate issues often overshadows the long-term planning needed for effective public service transformation.

However, agencies could call on companies like AWS and Salesforce to help. Leanne Hurrell, Head of UK Regional Public Sector, at AWS, said the companies were working to understand the digital transformation challenges facing regional government bodies and are keen to collaborate. She said the typical AWS approach is to start with the customer’s problem and work backwards towards a solution - but that requires them to have a better understanding of the problems.

 

Despite the challenges, the briefing underscored a strong commitment to modernisation and cooperation across sectors. By adopting inclusive citizen journey designs, overcoming data silos, and embracing both cultural and technological change, regional governments have a roadmap for improvement.

 

Through calculated, citizen-centred innovation, coupled with proactive and personalised services, UK regional government could transform from a patchwork of siloed services into a cohesive system that truly serves its citizens.

 

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