Image source: NAO
The head of the National Audit Office (NAO) is to highlight the importance of AI in boosting productivity and strengthening resilience in the UK public sector.
Gareth Davies is expected to make it one of the key points of his annual speech to Parliament today. It will set out four fundamentals in response to the need to tackle longstanding issues around productivity and resilience the Spending Review.
The priorities – as outlined in details provided by the NAO in advance of the speech – should include embracing a fast learning approach when investing in AI and other areas.
The four fundamentals are: setting a clear risk appetite for investment in innovation and recognising that not every individual project will bear fruit; a culture of fast learning and evaluation; effective accountability and scrutiny that encourages well managed risk taking; and the harnessing of new technology, including AI.
Davies is expected to say: “(Artificial intelligence) is rightly at the top of the agenda, with clear potential for reducing the time taken for routine tasks, augmenting the work of skilled experts and making public services easier to use. The question is not whether AI will make a difference to productivity but how to maximise the benefits whilst managing the risks.”
Expanding on the subject, he will say: “We’ve started seeing relatively straightforward applications of AI in government. These are the foothills of a huge coming change in the design of government services and administration.
“Good governance will be needed to manage the risks accompanying AI, to ensure fair treatment of service users and citizens and maintain public trust. But the immense opportunities for greater productivity, and more user-friendly services mean that these are risks to be managed, not avoided.”
Redesigning systems
“Second on my list is system reform. This means tackling the causes of avoidable demand and allocating resources in a redesigned system where they can have maximum impact on productivity.
“Third, investing in people, their skills and how they are organised, and delivering higher productivity through a culture of improvement. And fourth, maintaining assets to support productive service delivery.”
On a broader scale, the finance function in government can support a culture of fast learning and evaluation – a key characteristic of innovators – by ensuring that robust financial information is used to inform decisions on stopping, continuing or scaling up innovations.
Risk taking can also be managed more effectively with a strong framework of accountability and scrutiny, Davies will say.
Scrutiny and innovation
“There are those who say that the combination of the NAO and parliamentary scrutiny can stifle innovation, because civil servants are concerned about being criticised for something that hasn’t worked,” the speech will state.
“I take this point seriously, although my reflection after nearly six years of attending sessions of the Public Accounts Committee is that its challenge is far more likely to focus on why officials haven’t done more to improve long-standing performance issues
“Our refreshed strategy from 2025 to 2030 takes fully into account the risk appetite set for the range of innovative projects. We will continue to look for and highlight positive examples of innovation, including where unsuccessful initiatives have been stopped in favour of more promising ones.”
