FAO: Chancellor Rachel Reeves
From: Sam Smith, Institute Director, Socitm
As councils prepare for another tough budget cycle it’s clear that the pressure to do more with less has never been greater. But there’s an approach that’s already helping them stretch resources, improve services, and build resilience.
That approach is digital.
Digital isn’t tools, platforms, or systems, it’s a way of solving problems, designing services, and engaging communities. It’s a whole mindset that prioritises user needs, embraces data-informed decision-making, and encourages continuous learning and iteration.
It’s not about chasing the latest tech trend. Digital approaches are about embedding agility, openness, and inclusivity into everything we do.
Yet too often, digital is still treated as a cost – something to be trimmed – rather than a strategic asset that drives value.
As you prepare the Autumn Budget, we’re urging you to recognise the role digital plays in local government. To support the conditions that allow it to thrive.
Your government’s given us a Blueprint for Modern Digital Government. Now give us the resources to build it.
By framing digital investment as a tool for fairness and efficiency, the Budget can reflect your government’s promise to make the economy work for working people
What’s holding councils back
In our work, we’ve seen 4 recurring challenges that stop councils from delivering their full potential:
- Digital seen as a cost, not a value creator.
- Senior leaders failing to understand the digital possibilities.
- Digital leaders still missing from the key decision-making forums.
- Frontline innovation overlooked or underused.
These aren’t tech problems, they’re cultural ones. And they explain why so many transformation programmes stall, why savings go unrealised, and why services struggle to keep pace with demand.
What happens when it’s done right. A catalyst for growth and efficiency
When digital is embedded into the way our councils work, the results speak for themselves:
- Automated customer service that’s available 24/7, reducing call volumes and freeing up staff.
- Frontline teams using smart tools to focus on complex cases, not paperwork.
- Data-driven decisions that help allocate resources where they’re needed most. Whether that’s fixing potholes or supporting vulnerable residents.
These aren’t pipe dreams. Councils across the country are already doing this — but they need support to go further.
Let’s fix the foundations together
If digital transformation is going to deliver it needs structural support, targeted investment, and a clear signal from the top that digital matters.
Here’s what we’re asking for:
Funding models that recognise digital as a strategic enabler, not a discretionary spend.
Every single local public service is experiencing higher demand. Specifically allocating resources for digital approaches in your budget means the people who most need focus can get it.
This gives councils the endorsement to:
- Support leadership development, so senior teams have the digital confidence to lead transformation. This isn’t about blame it’s about support. We need to better equip our leaders with the digital literacy to make informed decisions and to see technology as a strategic enabler, not just infrastructure.
Councils need an engaged, informed leadership that can challenge assumptions, champion innovation, and drive change. - Meet that Blueprint requirement of getting digital representation valued and included at the most senior level. Despite the central role digital plays in service delivery, many councils still tuck their most senior IT leaders under finance or corporate services.
That structure belongs to a different era. One where technology was about keeping the lights on. Today, it’s about shaping strategy, enabling transformation, and building organisational resilience. - Investment in workforce innovation, including tools, training, and time to experiment. Some of the best ideas in local government come from the people who know the problems best. The frontline staff.
They’re the ones navigating clunky systems, finding workarounds, and keeping services running. They know what’s broken — and often, how to fix it.
Low cost. High impact.
These aren’t expensive asks. They’re smart ones. Because when digital is done right, it saves money, improves services, and builds resilience.
Digital transformation isn’t a luxury, it’s how councils deliver in the modern age. It’s how we meet rising demand, manage shrinking budgets, and build services that work for everyone.
At Socitm, we support councils to build the culture and capability they need — through technical assessments, leadership programmes, and a thriving community of professionals solving problems together.
But we and they can’t do it alone. We need national leadership that sees digital not as a bolt-on, but as the foundation of modern public service.
Let’s change our attitude to digital.
It’s not a financial burden, but a key to evolution and commitment to better services for people and places.