Making more and better use of digital services could save councils in England more than £5bn over the course of the next decade, a government report has found.
Some £500m could be saved every year if councils embraced the best examples of digital innovation and technology to deliver better services, it said.
Average savings made by councils that have gone digital have increased from £1m a year ago to £1.4m in 2014, the Local digital today 2014 report revealed.
But it also highlighted the challenges that many councils face, including old systems and ICT infrastructure, a lack of in-house digital skills and an unwillingness to change.
The report showed that central government departments, such as the Government Digital Service and related parts of the Cabinet Office, would be the most likely options to help councils transform services and deliver cost efficiencies.
Local government minister Kris Hopkins said today that councils could learn from ‘town hall trailblazers’ that had got to grips with the digital age and were making multi-million pound savings by putting services online.
Hopkins said: ‘Can do councils have led the way by proving that hundreds of millions of pounds can be saved every single year just by waking up to the digital dawn. It is high time the rest of local government follows suit.
‘As this report suggests, the sensible use of what have become commonplace “every day” technologies could deliver at least £5bn in savings over the course of a decade. This is money which could be ploughed back into improving frontline services and keeping council tax down.’
