Pembrokeshire council launches GBP £4.95m AI rollout

Pembrokeshire County Council has appointed ICS.AI to deliver a GBP £4.95 million artificial intelligence transformation programme, described as the most extensive AI rollout yet undertaken by a Welsh local authority.

The multi-year scheme will introduce AI tools across services used by residents and staff, beginning with a three-year deployment. It follows an assessment led by ICS.AI, in which more than 100 council employees took part in 40 hours of workshops covering 25 service areas.

The review identified 108 potential AI use cases across the authority, with implementation plans linked to service delivery, productivity and cost reduction. The council expects the programme to generate between GBP £3.3 million and GBP £6.7 million in savings and efficiencies once fully implemented. ICS.AI said the programme is underpinned by a minimum of GBP £2.5 million in savings and efficiencies, subject to agreed changes being carried out.

Pembrokeshire is one of Wales' largest counties by area and serves about 125,000 residents across rural communities. The authority is also under pressure from rising demand in children's and adult social care, while Audit Wales has raised concerns about its long-term financial sustainability and reliance on reserves.

First phase

The first phase will focus on services with high volumes of public contact and administrative work. Planned systems include a bilingual AI phone assistant designed to handle more than 230,000 resident calls a year in Welsh and English, a web-based assistant for digital self-service, and staff tools aimed at reducing administrative work in Adult Social Care and Children's Services.

Other early uses include AI-driven inbox management for high-volume council email accounts, drafting support for Individual Development Plans in children's and education services, and AI-assisted council tax debt recovery using data unification and automated engagement.

Later stages are expected to extend the technology into other parts of the council, including Freedom of Information requests, adult social care assessments, housing repairs, financial assessments, IT service management and provider intelligence.

All resident-facing systems are set to operate in Welsh and English, reflecting the council's status as a Welsh local authority and the need to provide equal access in both languages.

"Like councils across the UK, we are facing increasing demand for services at a time of significant financial pressure. This programme is about embracing innovation to help us protect and improve the services our residents rely on every day," Will Bramble, Chief Executive of Pembrokeshire County Council, said.

"Artificial intelligence offers us an opportunity to work smarter, reduce administrative burdens on our workforce, and make it easier for residents to access council services. Importantly, this is about giving our staff better tools so they can focus on delivering support where it matters most. We have taken a careful and considered approach to this investment, ensuring there is strong governance, clear accountability and a focus on measurable outcomes for Pembrokeshire residents."

The programme has been through a scrutiny process and was designed around local operating conditions, including dispersed populations and the breadth of services delivered by the authority. Pembrokeshire County Council employs about 6,100 people and manages services ranging from schools and housing to planning, highways, waste and social care.

Wider pressure

The project comes as councils across the UK turn to automation and AI to manage service demand and budget constraints. In Pembrokeshire, the programme is part of a broader effort to reshape how residents access council services and how staff handle routine tasks.

Cllr Tessa Hodgson, Leader of the Council, said: "Pembrokeshire is a forward-looking authority, and we must continue to explore innovative ways to deliver high-quality services in a challenging financial environment. This investment in AI is about improving how residents interact with the Council, supporting our staff to work more efficiently, and ensuring we make the very best use of public funds."

ICS.AI said its SMART platform is already used in local government settings across the UK and supports more than 12 million AI interactions each year. It also said it had identified GBP £12 million in savings at Derby City Council through a similar transformation approach.

Martin Neale, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ICS.AI, said: "Local authorities are under enormous pressure to deliver better outcomes with fewer resources, but AI only creates value when it's embedded into the way organisations operate. Pembrokeshire has taken a strategic approach by identifying where AI can make the greatest impact across the whole organisation, rather than introducing isolated point solutions. This programme brings together AI for residents, AI for staff and AI agents within a single platform, creating the foundations for long-term transformation."