The UK government will expand the use of AI within the country’s civil service, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced. The initiative aims to replace certain tasks performed by civil servants with AI solutions that can deliver equivalent outcomes. This move is part of a broader digital-first strategy to modernise public services and achieve substantial financial savings.
The UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Peter Kyle stated that a reduction in the civil service workforce is “almost certain” as government departments begin to adopt AI technologies.
“There is a £45bn jackpot to secure if we use technology properly across our public sector – but we can’t hope to come close to securing that if we don’t have the right technical talent with us in government,” said Kyle. “Not only will these changes help fix our public services, but it will save taxpayer cash by slashing the need for thousands of expensive contractors and create opportunities across the country as part of our Plan for change.”
“More than half or about half of all transactions are carried out by government or analogue,” Kyle stated during an interview with Sky News.
His remarks were made prior to Starmer’s address, where the prime minister outlined significant reforms designed to enhance government functionality and provide support for the workforce amid global challenges.
Starmer additionally proposed the introduction of 2,000 technology apprentices to accelerate the integration of AI in Whitehall. This initiative is aimed at modernising government departments and ensuring that the necessary skills are present to improve public services through technological advancements. Furthermore, specialised technology teams will be assigned to public sector departments to facilitate improvements and enhance efficiency in service delivery.
“No person’s substantive time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do it better, quicker and to the same high quality and standard,” said Starmer.
The digitisation efforts will include extensive modernisation, with the new apprenticeship programme, TechTrack, set to introduce the proposed apprentices into public sector roles by 2030. This initiative aims to equip the UK government with the skills necessary to modernise public services.
Starmer’s announcement was broadly welcomed by industry stakeholders, though some pointed out that there was still work to be done in training civil servants to use AI effectively. “The UK Government’s move to integrate AI into the civil service is a proactive step towards improving efficiency and modernising public services,” said Lenovo Infrastructure Solution Group’s UK&I Country General Manager, Ian Jeffs. “However, while investment and confidence in AI continue to grow, critical challenges remain around training staff, poor data quality and scaling initiatives. Careful implementation is required by governmental departments to ensure the right frameworks are in place to enable innovation and productivity.”
Pegasystem’s government principal, Alex Case, was similarly sanguine. “A goal of embedding more AI to streamline and accelerate the processes of governing and delivering good public services is absolutely right,” said Case. “But, as I know from being an ex-Cabinet Office and Treasury official, achieving such proliferation of AI will require imagination and a determination to overcome institutional barriers to successful project delivery.”
Initial AI trials indicate potential efficiency gains in public sector services
In a related development, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) announced that initial trials of an AI assistant for call centre employees, developed in partnership with Citizens’ Advice, showed the potential to reduce the time taken to respond to complex inquiries by half. This innovation is part of a wider strategy to enhance service efficiency.
The UK government’s announcement comes in the context of significant workforce reductions initiated by Elon Musk in the US through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), following Donald Trump’s re-election to a second term in January 2025.
Read more: UK DSIT seeks industry input on AI research expansion
