The Local Government Association (LGA) has responded to the Government’s AI Action Plan with a call for a strong role for local government, investment in the relevant skills of its workforce and careful attention to the safety issues.
It has published a detailed response the plan, which was announced by the Government at the beginning of this week and includes a significant role for public services in promoting the development and use of AI in the UK.
The LGA has broadly welcomed the plan, saying it encourages the ambition to make the country a world leader in AI, and points out that the technology is seen as important in the transformation of public services.
It adds that 91% of councils responding to its survey on the issue reported that they were either already using or exploring the potential of AI, and that local government should be valued as a key partner in shaping future use of the technology.
Digital technology centre
It says this could be achieved partly through the establishment of a Local Government Centre for Digital Technology, which it proposed in a white paper published during the summer of last year.
This “should enable and deliver this plan, ensuring that local government makes the best use of technology in order to digitise public service delivery, enhance productivity and improve outcomes”, it says, adding: “The success of a public sector wide approach includes ensuring local government has a seat at the table.”
The LGA emphasises the role of local authorities in providing connectivity at a local level – a key element of infrastructure for AI – and says there should be stronger partnerships between central government, combined and local authorities and the private sector to ensure the roll out of an equitable infrastructure. This would come with making community engagement a priority.
In response to the plan for AI growth zones to accelerate the building of data centres, it argues that “a reset is required between national and local government to ensure that local priorities are integrated appropriately into national ambitions”, and that central government understands local barriers.
It recommends that the two sides work together on shaping the way national planning policy and the wider planning system are presented and accessed, with greater weight given to planning applications that support key drivers of economic growth such as data centres and gigafactories.
Building workforce skills
The paper also highlights the need for investment to equip the public sector workforce with the skills and knowledge to use AI effectively, including being able to evaluate the ethical and privacy considerations. This could include online courses, workshops and dedicated AI certifications for staff.
“The training available for civil servants should be made available to all public sector workers, including council staff,” it says.
“There needs to be long term workforce planning and investment in digital and technology practitioners within the public sector. This could save considerable sums of money spent on consultants each year.”
The LGA also expresses the belief that more could be done to strengthen the safe use of AI, pointing out that councils often have to carry out the assurance processes themselves. This results in varying approaches to due diligence and asking suppliers the same questions with no third party assurance.
“It’s vital therefore, to save capacity both of council officers and vendors (particularly SMEs), that assurance has mandatory third party verification and this is trusted by pubic sector buyers,” it says, while recognising that there is currently a “supply gap” of AI auditors in the UK.
One solution, it suggests, is a role for local government led organisations and Crown Commercial Services in carrying out coordinated assurance and verification on behalf of councils that use their procurement frameworks. This could also help to standardise cyber and information security.
