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News follow-up · Local government

Local government AI savings: what happened since at Derby

In 2023 one English city council put a number on what AI would save it: £12.25 million a year. Three years on, the council's own pages report the use of its assistants, and the same £12.25 million, as a figure "identified".

Published 29 October 2026 · Every number links to its source and was read on 29 October 2026.

What this site reported

On 3 June 2024 the earlier version of this site reported that Derby City Council had signed a £7 million agreement to extend AI across its services, and that the plan had drawn criticism.

What the record shows now

The plan is set out in a Cabinet report of 20 December 2023. The council and Derby Homes had launched two assistants, Darcie and Ali, on the web in April 2023 and on the telephone in May 2023, replacing the main switchboard.[1] Discovery workshops with the supplier then identified 261 AI opportunities, of which 54 had solutions proposed, and the business cases put the minimum combined saving at £12.25 million, counted into the council's medium-term financial plan.[1] The report sought approval for a £7 million contract, £2.561 million of capital for phases 1 and 2, one-off revenue costs of £0.318 million in 2023/24, and annual revenue costs of up to £1 million from 2024/25.[1]

Horizontal bar chart of the 12.25 million pound target by area: adult social care 8.9 million, customer channels and automation 2.4 million, children's services 0.95 million. Horizontal bar chart of the 12.25 million pound target by area: adult social care 8.9 million, customer channels and automation 2.4 million, children's services 0.95 million.
Where the £12.25 million a year was to come from, as set out in the Cabinet report of December 2023. Adult social care includes £6 million from care reviews.[1] Data: derby-ai-savings-target-2023.csv.

Most of the target sits in adult social care, £8.9 million, and £6 million of that in care reviews, the use that drew the criticism: staff using AI to review care packages and decide whether someone living at home is getting the right level of care.[1][3] The equality impact assessment of 22 January 2024 records the same £12.25 million minimum and the same breakdown.[2] The council's news item of 27 February 2024 says the contract was expected to produce £3.925 million of savings in 2024/25, "rising to a minimum of £12.25 million annually once fully delivered".[3]

The latest council statement is dated 18 May 2026, on the assistants' third anniversary. It says Darcie and Ali have handled more than 3.2 million routine enquiries; that 54% of Darcie's cases and 44% of Ali's are answered without staff input; that 77% of residents who give feedback on Darcie describe the experience as positive; that Darcie received a generative AI upgrade in May 2025, which let residents ask about adult social care; and that the wider programme "has now identified £12.25 million in savings across the authority".[4]

What the record does not show

"Identified" is the word the council used in December 2023 and again in May 2026.[1][4] None of the four documents reports a savings figure actually delivered in 2024/25 or 2025/26, nor the outcome of the £3.925 million expected for the first year.[3] Until the council publishes an outturn against the target, the only checkable numbers are the target itself and the enquiry counts above. The old post's £7 million is the contract value, not a saving.[1]

See also: Generative AI in government for the federal rules on acceptable use.

Sources

  1. Derby City Council, Council Cabinet report of 20 December 2023, item 8, Transforming the Council using AI Technology (as released by the council under the Freedom of Information Act). Read 29 October 2026.
  2. Derby City Council, Equality impact assessment: Transforming the Council using AI Technology, dated 22 January 2024. Read 29 October 2026.
  3. Derby City Council, news, Council embarks on next phase of AI, 27 February 2024. Read 29 October 2026.
  4. Derby City Council, news, Council's digital helpers mark three years of success, 18 May 2026. Read 29 October 2026.

How this page was checked: the target and its breakdown were read from the Cabinet report and typed into the CSV beside this page; the enquiry and feedback figures were read from the council's May 2026 news item. The four documents were read on 29 October 2026. No document naming a delivered saving was found on the council's site.