Research from the Social Market Foundation (SMF) has found that AI and automation could save more than 4,300 years worth of work for public servants at HMRC and the DWP alone.

In a new report, In the blink of an AI: Clearing the backlog in UK public services, the SMF outlined the benefits the civil service and public sector could reap by further integrating AI and automation, analysing dozens of real world case studies which highlight the efficiencies emerging tech offers for public services.

The study found that AI could save over eight million hours a year at the DWP and HMRC, two of the government’s largest user-facing departments, by deflecting, automating or streamlining the thousands of phone calls, appointments, and caseloads that government workers engage with every day.

In another example, the SMF research shows the potential time savings to be made by GP practices by integrating AI, finding that out of the roughly 350 million GP patient contacts seen in the latest year, more than 320 million of these could be automatically allocated without staff intervention if results from promising trials were scaled up across the country.

Across GP practices, the SMF claims that AI could cut patient waiting times by almost three quarters  (73%) overall and almost half (47%) during peak times, with success already proven in those practices trialling AI-powered triage systems.

If scaled up, the technology has the potential to save £345 million in savings every year for the NHS by helping to cut non-attendance rates for GP trusts and hospitals.

At the DVLA, almost 20% of applications for a driving license that require a medical review take more than 90 days to process, the equivalent of more than 200,000 decisions, but the SMF report argues that this process could be shortened by investing in AI technology, like Optical Character Recognition, which allows physical text to be read by computers. 

Standing in the way are ‘structural impediments’, such as risk aversion among the civil service, a difficulty in scaling successful pilots, and a lack of institutional expertise. The report also highlights issues around legacy systems, siloed decision making, and reluctance around investments as key issues around further use of AI in the public sector.

In order to take advantage of potential savings, the SMF recommends that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) provide a ‘one stop shop’ for all public sector AI and automation needs, acting as the centre for digital innovation in government rather than allowing for piecemeal AI developments to take place across separate areas.

Recommended reading

• DIGIT Expo 2024 | AI for the Public Good
• FCA Warns Finance Firms About AI Fraud Risks
• What Key GenAI Advancements Will Shape the Future of Procurement?

The study also recommends that DSIT be given control of a dedicated fund to distribute to projects which focus on business case use of AI and automation, while at the same time establishing what the SMF calls a ‘data academy’ to train civil servants with the skills needed to understand and harness AI.

“Public services in the UK are creaking under increasing demand and, for far too many people, failing to deliver,” said Sam Robinson, senior Researcher at the Social Market Foundation.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. There are more opportunities than ever to streamline public services and give the public back thousands of years of their time. The technology is already here; government now needs to be bold enough to use it.”