The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has set up a new unit tasked with helping councils to improve online services for residents and boosting IT procurement prowess.
GDS Local will work with councils to pave the way for residents to be able to use GOV.UK One Login and the GOV.UK app to access both national and local services through a single account.
It will also work to reform the way that councils buy technology, looking to end contracts that see local authorites locked into long-term agreements with single suppliers who charge premium prices for services running on outdated technology.
Additionally, GDS Local will support councils to share anonymised data on isues such as homelessness and demand for key services through the new Government Digital and Data Hub – allowing for better analysis of on-the-ground practice.
The hub aims to provide digital and data professionals across the public sector with access to training, career-development resources, and peer networks. It brings together staff from central government, councils, the NHS and other public bodies in one place for the first time.
DSIT said the platform would help grow the UK’s public sector digital workforce, ensuring staff have the skills needed to deliver faster, simpler and more secure services for the public.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and sector lobby group the Local Government Associaiton will work with GDS Local. Earlier this year MHCLG created a new “AI and analytics” directorate.
The launch of the GDS Local unit follows January’s Blueprint for Modern Digital Government, which said the “new” Government Digital Service would shift focus to “serve and connect the wider public sector” after its move from the Cabinet Office to DSIT.
The “blueprint” vision was released on the day that then-DSIT secretary of state Peter Kyle said better use of technology across the public sector could unlock productivity benefits worth £45bn a year.
Ian Murray, minister for digital government at DSIT, said GDS Local would play an important role in raising local government’s digital game.
“For too long, local councils have been left out of the digital transformation happening across central government, despite delivering the services that matter most to, and are closest to, people’s lives,” he said.
“GDS Local will help end the postcode lottery for digital services, giving every community access to modern, joined up and reliable online services. This is about making government work seamlessly for people wherever they live and delivering the world-class local digital experience they rightly expect.”
Dan Swords, a councillor who chairs the LGA’s Public Service Reform and Innovation Committee, said GDS Local would help authorities address the “unique digital challenges” they face.
“This new team offers a fantastic opportunity to accelerate the pace of transformation, helping councils use data and technology to deliver services that are more accessible, efficient, and tailored to local need,” he said.