Greater Manchester City Council wants to use artificial intelligence to fight a £16m budget gap.
Bury Council plans to use AI to “automate routine administrative tasks” and “gradually reduce headcount”.
As part of a £3m ‘strategic workforce review’, council leaders are phasing out vacant management positions and considering new technology to reduce reliance on government workers.
Sean Thorpe, Bury’s deputy leader and cabinet member for finance and transformation, said: “If we don’t continue to transform the council, we will collapse, so we have to consider all options.”
“To survive, we have to embrace this technology. Bury’s size is both a risk and an opportunity. We are a very small council, so we don’t have hundreds of resources, which means there is an urgent need to embrace this technology.” [AI]”
The council is proposing the deployment of various software tailored to each department.
All sectors have been considered through a “robust” two-year process.
Software ranges from everyday AI assistants like Microsoft Co-Pilot to specific tools like Magic Notes, a program designed to assist social and healthcare workers with note-taking.
Others target specific processes, such as summarizing responses to consultations. Reps spend a lot of time sifting through hundreds of pages of feedback. We may also automatically send residents updates on planning and licensing applications.
The application will not result in immediate headcount reductions. But Thorpe said the council’s staff numbers would be reduced “over time” and not all departing staff would be replaced.
“Just being more efficient saves time; doing things inefficiently costs money.
“Over time, you’re going to have less headcount. It’s a natural attrition over time, and that way you can reduce your overhead.
“To be clear, we’re not saying we’re going to introduce AI and eliminate all administrative roles, because organizations still need people, but it’s an opportunity for those people to grow and develop in a different way.”
According to the council, the move to AI is not only aimed at reducing costs, but also improving services by “removing the mundaneness from work”. For example, according to the finance director, by spending less time taking notes, social workers can “spend more time with residents solving complex problems in people’s lives.”
“It’s a bit scary because you don’t know what you don’t know,” Lord Thorpe added. “We want to make sure that we go through a robust decision-making process when making decisions about deploying AI.”
The proposal, along with other cost-cutting measures in the budget, will be discussed at a scrutiny meeting on Tuesday, February 10.
