Supporting Local Government with Creating Improvements and Efficiencies
Guest blog by Alex Fillingham, Account Director at Civiteq and Gavin Muncaster, Director of Digital at Southampton City Council #LPSInnovation
Alex Fillingham
Account Director, Civiteq
Gavin Muncaster
Director of Digital, Southampton City Council
How can local governments identify and prioritise areas for improvement and efficiency to deliver better outcomes for residents?
To deliver better outcomes for residents, local governments would benefit from taking a structured, evidence-based approach to identifying and prioritising areas for improvement and efficiency. Southampton City Council’s transformation journey, supported by Civiteq as its business change partner, offers a compelling blueprint for how this can be done effectively, even under significant financial constrain.
In 2023, facing a £39 million funding gap and the looming threat of a Section 114 Notice, Southampton launched a comprehensive transformation programme: Adapt | Grow | Thrive. The council acknowledged that its transformation needed to be council-wide, aligned to executive leadership, and deeply integrated with financial recovery plans. Seven portfolios with 28 individual programmes ensured broad organisational coverage while maintaining local accountability.
Southampton’s programme results
The results of Southampton’s transformation programme so far speak for themselves;
In-year savings of £19m in 24/25
Reduced requirement on EFS funding from £39.3m to £20.3m
Confidence from early delivery of £10m transformation savings
Consequently, the council is going into 25/36 with a balanced budget and MTFS set. It has reduced its requirement on EFS, and the structural deficit has been removed by the transformation Adapt I Grow I Thrive programme.
Key programme success factors
A critical enabler of success was the use of strategic partnerships. Newton Europe supported the overall transformation strategy and Civiteq provided vital expertise in business change, as well as digital strategy, service design, and architecture. This specialist input helped the council move beyond firefighting towards sustainable, long-term change.
Civiteq’s digital maturity assessment and discovery work enabled the council to prioritise projects with the greatest operational and financial impact, like consolidating legacy systems and enhancing compliance tools.
With its 6 week piece of work, Civiteq identified over £3million of revenue generating activities.
Six key takeways for successful transformation
For other councils, the experience gained from Southampton’s work suggests a clear pathway to identifying and prioritising improvement areas:
Start with discovery: Conduct maturity assessments, financial diagnostics, and service reviews. Southampton’s early digital assessments informed both strategy and delivery, ensuring transformation was aligned with real capability gaps and resident needs.
Focus on data and evidence: Southampton’s roadmap, developed with Civiteq, was evidence-based and underpinned by robust governance. Local authorities should move beyond assumptions to data-driven prioritisation of investment and reform.
Align digital and service reform: Digital change was a core driver of efficiency and service improvement. Councils should embed digital within their broader transformation, rather than treat as a parallel track.
Empower staff and build capability: By upskilling internal teams, Southampton ensured that transformation was sustainable on an ongoing basis. A successful programme leaves behind enhanced capacity as well as outcomes.
Create strong governance and accountability: With an Improvement Board, CIPFA reviews, and dedicated programme governance, Southampton maintained momentum and credibility. This allowed faster budget-setting, stronger stakeholder engagement, and delivery of £10m in transformation savings.
Prioritise quick wins and long-term value: From social care demand management to property rationalisation and debt recovery, Southampton targeted both immediate efficiencies and structural improvements. Councils should look across services for high-impact areas that combine cost reduction with service quality gains.
Conclusion
Transformation is about doing things differently, it’s not about doing more with less. Southampton’s success was built on clarity of purpose, collaborative delivery, and a willingness to invest in digital and people capability. With the right partners and a disciplined approach, councils can turn financial pressure into a platform for sustained improvement.
techUK’s Local Public Services Innovation Awareness Day 2025
Today, we’re spotlighting transformative initiatives that are driving efficiencies, innovation, and meaningful change in local government.
Our Local Public Services Programme helps techUK members to navigate local government. We champion innovation that can create truly digital local public services helping to create thriving, productive and safer places for all. Visit the programme page here
Future Gazing: where next for local gov tech in 2026?
Explore what’s next for local government tech in 2026 — join the “Future Gazing” event to shape tomorrow’s public service innovations. Secure your place now and help lead the transformation.
Our members develop strong networks, build meaningful partnerships and grow their businesses as we all work together to create a thriving environment where industry, government and stakeholders come together to realise the positive outcomes tech can deliver.
Georgina is techUK’s Associate Director for Local Public Services
Georgina works with suppliers that are active or looking to break into the market as well as with local public services to create the conditions for meaningful transformation. techUK regularly bring together local public services and supplier community to horizon scan and explore how the technologies of today and tomorrow can help solve some of the most pressing problems our communities face and improve outcomes for our people and places.
Prior to techUK, Georgina worked for a public policy events company where she managed the policy briefing division and was responsible for generating new ideas for events that would add value to the public sector. Georgina worked across a number of portfolios from education, criminal justice, and health but had a particular interest in public sector transformation and technology. Georgina also led on developing relationships across central and local government.
If you’d like to learn more about techUK, or want to get involved, get in touch.
Programme Manager – Local Public Services and Nations and Regions, techUK
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.
Programme Team Assistant for Public Sector Markets, techUK
Fran Richiusa
Programme Team Assistant for Public Sector Markets, techUK
Fran serves as the Programme Team Assistant within techUK’s Public Sector Market Programmes, where she is responsible for delivering comprehensive team support, managing administrative functions, and fostering strong relationships with members.
Prior to joining techUK in May 2025, Fran built a meaningful career in the charitable and local government sectors. She worked extensively with both victims and perpetrators of crime, and notably led the coordination of Domestic Homicide Reviews across Surrey—an initiative aimed at identifying lessons and preventing future incidents of domestic abuse.
Outside of work, Fran is an avid traveller and a proud cat mum who enjoys unwinding with her feline companions.
