Event round-up: future gazing – where next for local government tech in 2026?

On the 3 December, we held our annual Future Gazing event. Local government experts reflected on trends that shaped the sector over the last year and made predictions of how technology will shape the future of local government in 2026.

A big thank you to our brilliant speakers who shared their insights and predictions with us:

Lorna Ingwell - Senior Researcher, Tussell

Tiffany St James - Chief AI Officer, Liverpool City Region

Ben Unsworth, Director Digital and Technology, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

Helen Stevenson, Programme Manager for Digital Capabilities, Local Government Association

Analysing data and trends in local government

Lorna Ingwell from Tussell kicked the event off. Lorna shared key insights and trends on the sector such as:

IT spend across local government was up to £19 billion in 2025, up from £12.7 billion in 2020.
IT spend has been slower to grow compared to other public sectors, such as healthcare and defence. However, local government will likely follow suit due to similar pressures driving spend.
While overall IT spend has increased from £2.5 billion to £2.8 billion over the last five years, its share of total expenditure has fallen from 3.8% to 3%. IT investment isn’t keeping pace with overall growth as other priorities take precedence. However, it remains key to driving innovation, efficiency, and cost savings.
Although local government IT spend remains the lowest among public sectors compared to defence and central government, it has grown by 17% over the past year, signalling strong momentum.
Councils in London remain the biggest IT spenders, but there is growing place-based investment in regions such as the North West, South West, and North East, as devolution drives demand for digital capabilities.
While the proportion of IT SMEs has grown from 15% to 20%, much higher than in in Central government or the NHS.
The proportion of contracts being awarded through a framework have risen from 21% to 59% from 2020 to 2025.

With this outlook for growth established, Lorna closed by noting that in the coming year many IT contracts are due to expire or be reshaped by Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). This creates a significant opportunity for suppliers as councils look to procure new contracts

AI in local government

Next, Tiffany St. James spoke about her role as Chief AI Officer at Liverpool City Region. This is a new position and the first regional Chief AI Officer in the country. She outlined how the Combined Authority is implementing AI across core services including transport, education, and health and social care.

Tiffany explained how the City Region is exploring AI to improve and personalise public services, making delivery more efficient and accessible. She also highlighted efforts to promote AI capability in the authority by driving improvements and efficiencies within the authority, and by enhancing service delivery to improve citizens’ lives.

A key focus is also building external capability: developing AI literacy, education, and SME involvement to strengthen the region’s skills base. Developing this capability across the region is key to the growth of success of AI as it promotes stressed the importance of a common language and shared understanding around AI to enable adoption and drive economic growth.

Driving transformation through technology

Ben Unsworth is the Director of Digital and Technology for Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames and Sutton council, providing a shared service across both councils. Ben discussed the potential for digital technology to drive efficiency and improvements, within councils and in the provision of services. Strong digital system, infrastructure, and interoperable data sets allow workers operate more efficiently and provide the best possible services. Many services within councils are still provided manually. Digital technology can provide a more seamless and joint up experience for citizens. However, councils face a challenge with the volume of services they offer, and how these integrate with other organisations or government departments.

Emerging technology, such as AI, allow councils to redesign legacy systems and improve the provision of services. Kingston and Sutton are exploring how these technologies can maximise their service to drive efficiency and better service delivery. Ben highlighted the use of AI in social care services within Kingston. Magic Notes AI tool has saved SEND workers time on admin tasks, allowing them to focus on service delivery. Ben pointed out that technology can fundamentally transform how councils operate in the same way as other sectors, including financial services. Ben closed with an optimistic outlook on the future with the launch of GDS local creating conditions for collaboration and interoperability of technology in councils. He called on councils and suppliers to be ambitious and rethink fundamentally how we deliver services to deliver more rapid change for councils and citizens.

Emerging technological challenges and opportunities

Helen Stevenson gave the final presentation of the event. She provided an overview of the year in local government, highlighting the pace of change and what this means for councils and suppliers as we enter 2026. Councils face a number of challenges, and collaboration with suppliers and the use of technology will allow councils to excel as we move into 2026. Helen discussed key trends which will shape local government in the year ahead:

Cyber has become existential. Councils face heightened cyber risks as threats accelerate and become more targeted. While resilience is improving and guardrails are being implemented, capability is still uneven and recovery is increasingly complex. As we move into 2026, this will continue to be a core issue for councils, prompting broader discussions around resilience.
The arrival of GDS local in 2026 an exciting development which will drive greater sector collaboration over the coming year. GDS local will produce a range outputs to advance tech implementation and collaboration in councils. A local government tech stack will be created to guide future design and investment. It will also break down barriers to cross service data, enabling teams to make better, more informed decisions and expand access to national GDS products giving councils more options rather than having to build from scratch.
AI will be implemented in local government across services. However, Helen highlighted that trust gaps remain when it comes to AI. This makes targeted, responsible implementation vital. AI implementation needs to be backed by strong data foundations, governance, and real resident engagement. Many councils have already developed strong people centred AI governance models, and Helen predicts more councils will adopt this approach in 2026.
Local Government Reorganisation is a backdrop to this progress. With roughly two hundred councils merging into a smaller set of unitary authorities, this is a once in a generation shift for local government. It presents challenges, particularly around integrating different data sets and systems across merging organisations. Convergence will be crucial as councils must align emails, websites, resident experiences during mergers. Councils will be looking for tools and suppliers that can help them integrate, migrate, and merge systems while also providing them with stability throughout this transition, as LGR accelerates in 2026.

According to Helen, as councils approach large scale transformation in 2026, a steady and well co ordinated approach will be essential.

Predictions for 2026

The webinar closed with each speaker offering their predictions for local government in 2026

Lorna emphasised the need to adopt a strong partnering approach. AI and Cyber Security will be of particular importance, so it’s important to keep this in mind when bidding for work with councils.
Tiffany predicted increased partnering and collaboration, not just between government, business, and academia, but also between councils themselves. This collaboration will drive learning, innovation, and transformation in Local Government
Ben predicted that new radical models of delivery will emerge. The emergence of new technology will enable better service outcomes and a more seamless experience for residents
Helen predicted that a culture of sharing and reuse will become much more embedded across the sector. Developing mechanisms for sharing and reuse will be key to enabling this change.

2026 presents an opportunity for councils to transform how they operate. It’s clear that collaboration between suppliers and councils can help in delivering this change and better outcomes for citizens overall.

Luke Newcombe

Programme Manager – Local Public Services and Nations and Regions, techUK

Luke joined techUK in September 2025 as a Programme Manager for Local Public Services and Nations and Regions.

Luke works closely with members and stakeholders across industry and government at local, regional and national levels to support collaboration, drive innovation and strengthen tech-enabled public services. His work supports the development of strong local and regional tech economies by helping organisations to engage with public sector challenges, explore emerging technologies and build impactful partnerships.

Prior to joining techUK, Luke worked at Enterprise Ireland, the Irish government’s export development agency. He began by advising SMEs on export strategy to the UK and later focused on connecting Irish businesses with multinational organisations to foster strategic partnerships, drive international growth and support economic development.

Luke holds an MSc in Political Economy from the University of Amsterdam and a BA in European Studies from Trinity College Dublin.

Email:: [email protected]

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