Understanding wider sector impact
We’ve taken an active role in the sector, offering training, funding council-led projects, and providing targeted interventions such as cyber support. Recently, we’ve focused on addressing some of the broader digital and cyber challenges. Our evaluation partners have extended their assessment to cover three key areas:
- the overall impact of the programme on council systems
- the impacts on specific funded councils
- the impacts on the staff and officers within those councils
This approach will improve our assessment of the Local Digital programme and pinpoint any areas requiring additional support.
Understanding diverse council needs
In Spring 2023, we issued a survey to measure basic markers for digital and cyber readiness across councils. With responses from 90 councils, the survey provided rich insights about different council digital priorities and challenges. The evidence gathered through this survey informs our evaluation approach, revealing significant differences in levels of ‘readiness’ between councils.
For instance, initial findings indicated that, on average, 15% of councils’ digital budgets are spent on maintaining insecure legacy technology, impacting their ability to adopt new and secure solutions.