Welsh Councils Must Enhance Efficiency to Capitalise on Digital Potential

Councils need to do more to ensure they are able to get the most for their money as they seek to unlock digital opportunities.

An Audit Wales report highlights how digital technology presents huge opportunities that could help councils meet financial pressures and improve services, but it also carries with it significant value for money risks.

Opportunities could cover the breadth of council services, whether focused on improving communication with service users, increasing efficiency or improving access to services. But the report, called ‘Digital by design? Lessons from our digital strategy review across councils in Wales’, questions whether councils are well placed to exploit these opportunities and achieve value for money in the process.

Audit Wales undertook a review of the strategic approaches to digital in each of the 22 principal councils in Wales. Overall it found that while many councils recognise the role digital can play in delivering their longer-term ambitions, weaknesses in their approaches pose value for money risks.

Councils were often not clear on how they were going to fund their ambitions, the report says, and it identified weaknesses in monitoring the impact and value for money of digital projects. It highlighted how local authorities could also do more to involve citizens and work in partnership with other organisations to help achieve their long-term objectives.

Auditor General, Adrian Crompton said:

“As highlighted in my report earlier this year, ‘From firefighting to future-proofing’, we are not always seeing clear evidence that investment in new systems is reaping the intended rewards across public services. It will be important for councils to put value for money, for both now and the longer term, at the heart of their work on digital transformation. Involving citizens and working with others will be key to that. I encourage them to consider the lessons and practice examples highlighted in the report as they continue to develop their work in this area.”

Audit Wales has highlighted examples of good practice which it calls on councils to take note of:

• Powys Council views digital as pivotal for driving transformational improvement to all services. The council’s digital strategy is supported by three business cases which set out funding over three years. The first two business cases allocated over £5.2 million for 2019 to 2025 and the third has secured £3.9 million for the next four years. The business cases clearly set out the risks, as well as possible mitigating actions. By allocating such funding to support the digital strategy and assessing the risks, the council is increasing the likelihood that it will deliver its intended outcomes.
• Neath Port Talbot Council’s Digital Strategy is closely aligned to key long-term strategies, including its corporate plan, which states its digital intentions in five years and in 20 years, its strategic change and decarbonisation programmes. It established a Digital Transformation Board to drive the prioritisation of activities and ensure links to corporate priorities. The council also works with partners outside the organisation to deliver its digital ambitions.
• Swansea City Council is undertaking many different collaborative activities with other councils in the region, the private sector and the third sector to improve digital connectivity, digital infrastructure, digital inclusion, and digital skills. They have also considered how the digital strategy can contribute to the Well-being of Future Generations Act’s national well-being goals, developing success factors based on the Act’s sustainable development principle.

The report identifies five key areas for improvement across the 22 councils relating to evidence, collaboration, resourcing, impact and learning. These lessons will apply to each council differently, says Audit Wales, which is encouraging councils to consider them in the context of their individual reports.

1. They could draw on a broader evidence base to inform a long term, citizen-centred approach to digital.
2. They could go further in working across internal boundaries and with external partners to deliver maximum value from their digital strategies.
3. They could do more to identify the benefits that could be achieved, and the resources required to help them turn ambition into reality.
4. They need to make sure they can assess the impact of their digital strategies and individual projects.
5. They could take a more systematic approach to learning, so they can adapt and improve their work on digital.