Civil Service ‘Humphrey’ AI tools aim to cut back spending and speed up work
21 January 2025, 00:04
Some of the tools, named after the fictional Whitehall official Sir Humphrey Appleby from the BBC’s Yes, Minister, are ready for use straight away.
A package of AI tools dubbed Humphrey will be rolled out to the Civil Service to cut back on consultant spending and speed up work in Whitehall.
Replacing “archaic” technology could save taxpayer-funded services £45 billion by boosting productivity, according to a report on Government technology to be published on Tuesday.
Some of the bundle of tools, named after the fictional Whitehall official Sir Humphrey Appleby from the BBC’s Yes, Minister, are ready for civil servants to use right away.
One, called Consult, aims to speed up policy decision-making by crunching thousands of responses to consultations within hours and presenting them as interactive dashboards for policymakers and experts.
Consultants and analysts who do this at the moment can take months to compile responses and bill the taxpayer around £100,000 per consultation.
The package for civil servants also includes a tool to analyse decades of parliamentary debates called Parlex, a generative programme to prepare briefings called Redbox and a legal research tool called Lex.
The tools are part of a plan to overhaul digital services in a bid to cut costs and make it easier for the public to access services.
Science Secretary Peter Kyle is also expected to unveil plans for digital driving licences that would be accessed through a Government app.
The Government wants to do away with “antiquated processes” such as queueing at the local council to register a death or posting an advert in the local paper to get a lorry driving licence.
It also wants central departments such as HMRC and the Department for Business and Trade to share more data with each other and local councils to crack down on fraud.
A new team in Mr Kyle’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will be tasked with joining up public services so people do not have to tell dozens of organisations the same thing.
The Science Secretary said: “Sluggish technology has hampered our public services for too long, and it’s costing us all a fortune in time and money, not to mention the headaches and stresses we’re left with after being put on hold or forced to take a trip to fill out a form.
“My department will put AI to work, speeding up our ability to deliver our Plan for Change, improve lives and drive growth.
“We will use technology to bear down hard to the nonsensical approach the public sector takes to sharing information and working together to help the people it serves.
“We will also end delays businesses face when they are applying for licences or permits, when they just want to get on with the task in hand – growth. This is just the start.”
Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants the UK to be an AI “superpower” and to use the technology to boost growth.
The Government has said it will “take forward” all 50 recommendations made by tech entrepreneur Matt Clifford, who was commissioned by Mr Kyle in July to come up with a plan to identify AI opportunities.
The Government is ramping up efforts to build tools in house but also plans to buy AI solutions from the private sector.
