5th December 2024
Across the UK, local councils face an urgent challenge: addressing the growing digital skills gap while delivering efficient services to their communities. A 2022 Local Government Association (LGA) survey revealed that 90% of councils reported capability gaps and 83% identified capacity shortages within their workforce. These gaps hinder the ability to embrace digital transformation, putting pressure on budgets, operations, and citizen satisfaction.
It’s a perfect storm of challenges for local councils. While citizen demand for digital-first services grows, the public sector struggles to compete with private companies for top digital talent. The high cost of external consultants and IT specialists further strains already limited budgets. Councils that fail to close the skills gap risk falling behind in providing timely, accessible services.
What’s the solution? For many councils, low-code platforms are emerging as a cost-effective and practical way to bridge this gap and empower teams to deliver modern public services. Citizen Hub—a low-code platform tailored specifically for local councils— are transforming how councils meet these challenges without requiring councils to hire an army of developers.
Low-code platforms empower users to build applications with minimal technical skills. Through intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces, pre-built templates, and automated processes, non-technical staff can design and implement solutions quickly and efficiently.
Low-code is a game-changer for local councils, enabling existing staff to tackle digital projects without relying on expensive external resources.
1. Faster deployment, faster results
Traditional software development can take months, but low-code platforms allow councils to deliver digital solutions in weeks—or even days.
South Hams District Council has undertaken an exciting transformation programme to revolutionise customer service delivery, leveraging low-code. They developed their first app in just one week. Using our AppShare to download a similar app which they used as a scaffold to hang their own specific requirements from – it was easy to make it meet South Hams’ needs quickly. In their first 18 months using the platform, they had transformed 90 processes.
2. Empowering non-technical staff
Low-code platforms enable employees with process knowledge—not just IT specialists—to take ownership of digital transformation.
A benefits officer could design an online portal for submitting claims, cutting down on paperwork and speeding up service delivery. Adur & Worthing Councils used low-code to develop a no-code form builder app, called Form Builder. It’s an easy way for service teams to develop and maintain their own forms and apps, with no development experience and very little training. It reduces the liaison between services and the digital team and enables teams to assign and process forms submitted via the Form Builder as well as setting up their own checklists and message templates.
“We believe service design should be driven by empathy and user needs, not by technical constraints—enabling our nontechnical staff, who are deeply customer-focused, to lead innovative, meaningful solutions. Using Liberty Create, which is totally flexible and doesn’t demand traditional coding skill, we empower empathetic, problem-solving individuals to drive change without being limited by the technology itself.“
Craig Barker
Senior Manager – Digital and Customer Experience, Cumberland Council
3. Cost effective and resource-saving
Low-code platforms like Citizen Hub are resource saving platforms. With just one platform you can:
4. Knowledge retention and upskilling
By enabling in-house teams to lead digital projects using low-code platforms, councils retain institutional knowledge internally. Employees also upskill naturally as they use the platform, creating a more digitally capable workforce.
This approach not only fosters a culture of innovation and ideas from within, but also reduces dependency on external consultants, ensuring that critical expertise and project insights remain within the council.
5. Improving citizen experience
Low-code platforms help councils streamline services, enabling faster responses to citizen needs.
Tewkesbury Borough Council transformed online experience to benefit their citizens, the environment and their bottom-line. The council saved over £100,000 in the first 18 months and increased revenue by 35% from garden waste services after using a low-code platform to digitise key processes.
Their in-house Transformation Team used our low-code platform, to redesign services. They also deployed Citizen Hub, our low-code application development platform for councils, which includes citizen relationship tools and case management – out of the box.
The result? Simplified systems have reduced officer admin time, enabling quicker customer response times. They now have better integration into existing legacy systems, automated communications and more manageable data.
While the benefits of low-code platforms like Citizen Hub are clear, councils must address potential hurdles to ensure successful implementation:
Local councils are at a pivotal moment. The digital skills gap won’t close overnight, but with the right tools, councils can transform challenges into opportunities. Low-code platforms provide a practical, scalable and cost-effective solution that empowers existing staff, reduces costs, and improves citizen services.
Imagine this: faster responses, happier citizens and a more confident workforce—delivered without the need for external consultants.
If you’re ready to explore how low-code platforms can help your council deliver smarter, faster services, schedule a demo of Citizen Hub today. Let’s build a future where technology works for everyone, not just those with coding skills.
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