The devolution data challenge – essential early steps for success

Since the release of the government’s Devolution White Paper at the end of 2024, every single local authority in England has been examining what its best future state could look like.

For those that will be involved in unification programmes this means working out how to combine data, systems and resources to best serve their new, expanded constituencies. In removing the old borders, it means moving towards standardised processes and equalised outcomes for citizens across their region. From an operational standpoint, this is dependent on effective data management.

For councils not directly involved, like London boroughs and other metropolitans, this unification will raise the digital maturity benchmark, so they’ll need to ensure their data and systems keep pace.

Modern digital government

The new landscape will call for all councils to deliver better financial resilience, citizen welfare and community commitments via digitally enabled services, which corresponds to the wider vision laid out in the Government Digital Service’s (GDS) ‘Blueprint for modern digital government’.

Here, public services are digital-first, integrated and user-focused - no longer held back by legacy systems. With cloud computing, data analytics and AI, councils cut inefficiencies, lower costs, boost security and drive regional growth.

Devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR) mark critical steps towards this blueprint, forcing the issue of improving data maturity, data governance, data sharing and other data practices to make successful unifications between authorities possible.

It begs the questions – how well are local authorities currently set up to achieve this? Can they yet ‘walk’, in terms of using data in a way that is interoperable with partners, before they can ‘run’ towards the digital blueprint?

Creating digital pathways for local government services

At Civica we work with all 382 local councils in the UK on digital transformation projects. We see firsthand how the journey towards realising the government’s blueprint is already in motion in many places. There are increasing use cases and success stories about the impact of new and improved digital systems on local authorities’ ability to deliver on those three pillars of financial resilience, citizen welfare and community commitments.

Manual and legacy processes are being replaced with solutions that are data-driven and allow technology to do the heavy lifting. For example, we’re seeing it with authorities redefining how they track revenues and benefits payments with new gains from data capture, insights and automation. In social housing, councils are finally standardising and centralising their record keeping for property maintenance, helping to stay compliant and offer proactive citizen services. In every case where management of these services is redefined with a new digital solution, councils are seeing the financial and efficiency gains that are possible, as well as getting a glimpse of just how far the move from analogue to digital can take us.

Devolution and LGR offer the chance to take these best practices and roll them out further so that more citizens and councils can feel the benefits.

Tackling the serious lack of data maturity in local government

Delivering this kind of change is challenging and often requires strong data governance foundations. Many councils still rely on outdated spreadsheets, manual processes and siloed data, leading to duplication, inefficiency and poor accountability. Basic data governance, skills and transparency are often missing.

The State of digital government review, which accompanies the blueprint for modern digital government, says that around half of government services do not yet have a digital pathway; they still rely on phone calls, emails, letters and in-person visits.

These inefficiencies result in the average UK adult citizen spending a week and a half dealing with government bureaucracy every single year. These elongated pathways are costly. The review highlights that ‘over £45 billion per year of unrealised savings and productivity benefits, 4-7% of public sector spend, could be achieved through full potential digitisation of public sector services’.

Current processes also carry greater security risks. The review references the National Cyber Security Centre reporting a 50% rise in major cyber incidents in 2024, with their severity tripling.

Until these issues are resolved, councils are simply not ready to fully merge their systems as part of a devolution or LGR programme, let alone follow the blueprint for modern digital government.

Barriers to data maturity in local government

The Local Government Association’s (LGA) Data Maturity Model outlines five levels of data maturity in local authorities, highlighting typical behaviours at each stage. At the lowest level, data is siloed, poorly managed and rarely used to inform daily decisions. There is limited access, no quality controls and inconsistent storage, with data often kept on individual computers without cleaning or auditing.

Through our own survey of local government employees, the Future of Local Government Report 2025, there is stark evidence that many authorities are still languishing at this low level of data maturity.

For example, 37% said that siloed data and working practices are key obstacles to working effectively with data, yet 52% of councils stated that they have made minimal or no progress in reducing silos and improving collaboration across departments.

From a data capture and storage perspective, 48% have made minimal or no progress in improving the standardisation and interoperability of their data, and 53% have made minimal or no progress in improving overall data quality.

This low level of data maturity limits councils’ ability to make informed decisions and improve services. The challenge grows when neighbouring authorities use incompatible systems, making unification even harder.

Unlocking data in local authorities

At this key moment for digital transformation, councils must prioritise building strong data governance. They should assess their data maturity to spot gaps and opportunities, covering data governance, data quality and digital skills.

Working with transformation partners and identifying the tools that are available to give them a head start will be essential, especially given that there is so much to do within a short timeframe, learning to walk before they can run.

While key for upcoming unification or integration, the real goal is long-term: boosting financial resilience, operational efficiency, security and citizen engagement.

Civica is a global GovTech champion focused on developing critical cloud-based software and services that are integral to the everyday lives of citizens around the world. From central and local government to education, health and care, more than 6,000 customers trust and partner with Civica, using our software to deliver critical services to more than 100 million citizens. With operations in seven countries across North America, Europe and APAC and more than 20 years of experience, we’re passionate about supporting the needs of citizens and those that serve them every day. Find out more: www.civica.com

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