6 Lessons from the 2025 UK Public Sector Efficiency Survey

Earlier this year, I had the privilege to take part in a panel session discussing the industrialisation of artificial intelligence. It was a chance to reflect on the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan and the role of AI and automation in the public sector. The point I made at the time was that AI is not magic; like any powerful tool, its impact depends on the quality of its inputs and our readiness to act on its outputs.

It is a message that comes through loud and clear in the 2025 UK Public Sector Efficiency Survey, a research-based whitepaper commissioned by Appian and Coforge. The survey provides insights from 1,000 civil servants on public service processes. And the results are striking.

Here are six key takeaways from the survey:

1. Nearly all workers (94%) report inefficiencies. Inefficiencies cited by respondents include manual and repetitive tasks, a need to access multiple legacy systems, and a lack of training and support.

2. Workers face millions of unnecessary hours of work every week. On average, public sector workers experience five hours of additional work or delays every week due to manual or inefficient processes. Scale that across the UK’s 6.12 million public sector workers, and that’s 30.6 million hours of extra work every seven days.

3. Confidence in government initiatives is mixed. While 7 in 10 public sector directors or above have confidence in government-led efficiency initiatives, only 3 in 10 workers in administrative roles feel the same way—a clear case of top-down optimism meeting ground-level scepticism.

4. Process change is a common challenge. 91% of public sector workers say their organisation finds adapting processes challenging, especially when trying to maintain productivity amidst changing service demands, government policies, and evolving citizen needs.

5. Most workers (62%) are optimistic about AI, but doubts remain. Concerns around AI mainly relate to data privacy and security, uncertainty about potential benefits, and insufficient budgets and resources.

6. Automation would be welcome. More than 7 in 10 (72%) respondents believe that automating repetitive tasks would simplify their jobs and improve outcomes.

If growth is the government’s number one objective, then solving the public sector productivity puzzle must be near the top of the to-do list. At a time when public sector productivity is 1.4% down year-on-year, and 6% lower than pre-pandemic levels, the automation opportunity has never been more present or more necessary.

Here are three simple steps organisations can take to start working more efficiently:

I’d love to know what you make of our public sector efficiency survey. Does it resonate with your experiences? What is your number one frustration? And your number one priority? To find out more about the results of the survey, read our research in full.

Appian is The Process Company. We deliver a software platform that helps organisations run better processes that reduce costs, improve customer experiences, and gain a strategic edge. Committed to client success, we serve many of the world’s largest companies across industries. For more information, visit appian.com

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