Tuesday, February 10, 2026
West Lothian councilors have backed the adoption of policies to control the use of rapidly evolving technology.
By Stuart Somerville, Local Democracy Reporter
West Lothian has approved the widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in its service delivery.
Trustees supported the adoption of policies governing the use of rapidly evolving technologies after successful initial testing.
Social workers tried an AI application last year and reported that it saved them administrative work in their day, giving them more time to support clients.
The council’s executive team agreed to the policy tabled this month by IT manager Ian Forrest.
“Adopting an AI policy will ensure Congress uses AI responsibly to support innovation and efficiency while ensuring compliance with legal and ethical standards,” he told lawmakers.
A report to the Executive Directorate gave the assurance. “All information generated by AI must be reviewed, checked, and edited to ensure accuracy before use. Users of AI are responsible for reviewing the output and are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of output generated by AI before use/release.”
“Users remain professionally responsible for the quality and content of the output generated by AI, regardless of whether it is produced or used.”
It added, “AI systems must comply with data protection regulations, including the GDPR and other applicable laws and legal guidance. Sensitive or personal information must not be entered into public GenAI tools, applications, or websites (such as ChatGPT), as the information will be available in the public domain.”
“Users must comply with all applicable data privacy laws and organizational policies when using AI. If users have any doubts about the confidentiality of their information, they must not use the AI tool.”
Other councils, including West Lothian and Edinburgh, last year trialled the use of AI in social work using Magic Note, an AI-powered application developed by Beam, a social impact charity with extensive experience of supporting individuals facing homelessness.
The website records and transcribes social work sessions and uses advanced AI to generate ready-to-use summaries for customized assessments and case notes.
Additionally, Magic Notes provides real-time translation of letters and other documents, enhancing communication and accessibility across language barriers.
It was built to save social workers time and improve retention by allowing them to prioritize time with the families they support.
“During the pilot, a total of 640 recordings were made and 203 hours were spent over 12 weeks. There were 29 testers, and the average website rating was 4.4/5,” said a report to city council at the end of the pilot period last July.
The main impacts noted are:
– Saves staff an average of 1 day per week, reducing time spent on administrative tasks.
– Feedback included improved quality of conversations with service users as staff felt more present during visits, and feedback from the team included staff noticing improved quality of notes.
– Observed an 82% increase in speed for completing assessments, home visits and supervision records, and increased capacity to take on additional assignments by 40%.
– Morale and staff satisfaction improved significantly, with 90% of staff finding their work more enjoyable and satisfying, and 50% of staff advising that the use of magic notes would impact retention within the council if continued to be used.
Senior Manager Pauline Cochrane reported:
“Looking to the future, a thoughtful, step-by-step approach to scaling AI across social policy will enable a more informed and sustainable deployment. Establishing a board of directors and learning from each implementation stage will support the development of robust local AI frameworks and operational procedures.”
“This approach not only ensures responsible and effective AI integration, but also enables continuous risk assessment and provides practitioners with the confidence and guidance they need to use AI tools appropriately and ethically.”
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