UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) 
Local Digital Newsletter, 14 November 2024
14 November 2024
Council Spotlight: How West Lindsey District Council digitised their financial services
6 November 2024
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In this guest blog, West Lindsey District Council share how they used transformational programs and funding to digitise their financial services and improve their digital operations. Learn how the council […]
Local Digital Newsletter, 1 November 2024
1 November 2024
New resources to help councils with digital transformation
31 October 2024
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We are pleased to introduce digital resources to help councils apply the Local Digital Declaration principles and drive forward digital transformation.
Local Digital Newsletter, 16 October 2024
16 October 2024
Local Digital Newsletter, 2 October 2024
2 October 2024
Transforming the housing sector through improved data
30 September 2024
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Find out about our work to explore solutions to the data challenges faced by the social housing sector.
Introducing our new Open Referral UK steering group
20 September 2024
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We’ve brought together a group of changemakers to drive the implementation of the Open Referral UK (ORUK) data standard across local government.
Local Digital Newsletter, 4 September 2024
4 September 2024
Local Digital Newsletter, 22 August
22 August 2024
Council Spotlight: Dorset’s journey to becoming a digital council
21 August 2024
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In this guest blog post, Dorset Council shares their transformation journey over the past couple of years to become a digital council.
Local Digital Newsletter, 9 August
9 August 2024
Local Digital Newsletter, 5 June
5 June 2024
Local Digital Newsletter, 22 May
22 May 2024
Local Digital Newsletter, 10 May
10 May 2024
Access our learning resources for digital teams
1 May 2024
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We have launched a set of learning resources to introduce new approaches to designing products and services.
Local Digital Newsletter, 16 April
16 April 2024
Scaling data standards to support local government
10 April 2024
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Local Digital have made additional investments in data standards to ensure they scale and reach their full potential, but we want to go further.
Future Councils Pilot insights
2 April 2024
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The pilot enabled us to gain valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities for digital transformation in local government.
Sprint Notes #78
18 March 2024
Developing a service to assess and understand cyber resilience in local government
14 March 2024
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In this blog post, we’ll provide an update on our work to develop the CAF and share how your council can start getting ready.
Local Digital Newsletter, 7 March
7 March 2024
Driving adoption of Open Referral UK
5 March 2024
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We're pleased to announce an ambitious 3 year plan for the Open Referral UK (ORUK) data standard that could potentially deliver millions of pounds in annual savings.
Local Digital Newsletter, 20 February
20 February 2024
Local Digital update: Adapting our approach to support the sector
19 February 2024
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We reflect on our progress and share our plans to adapt our approach to take on a more strategic role as a ‘steward’.
Sprint Notes #77
14 February 2024
Local Digital Newsletter, 31 January
31 January 2024
Local Digital Newsletter, 17 January
17 January 2024
Sprint Notes #76
16 January 2024
Local Digital Newsletter, 13 December
13 December 2023
Sprint Notes #75
12 December 2023
Meet the Team: Eloise Siani Djiakoua
5 December 2023
Local Digital Newsletter, 29 November
29 November 2023
Local Digital Newsletter, 14 November
15 November 2023
Meet the team: Connor Couldrey, Delivery Manager
3 November 2023
Local Digital Newsletter, 31 October
1 November 2023
Sprint Notes #74
25 October 2023
Local Digital Newsletter, 17 October
17 October 2023
Meet the Team: Theo French, Economist
5 October 2023
Local Digital Newsletter, 3 October
3 October 2023
Sprint Notes #72
2 October 2023
Local Digital evaluation study: A snapshot of our initial findings
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Read some of the interesting findings from our independent evaluation of the Local Digital programme to understand the impact and value-for-money of the support we offer to local government.
Local Digital Newsletter, 19 September
19 September 2023
Sprint Notes #71
13 September 2023
Local Digital Newsletter, 7 September
7 September 2023
Future Councils: We’re gathering feedback from the sector
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In this blog post, we want to outline the challenges we’ve identified with the cohort and invite you to share your feedback and experiences.
Sprint Notes #70
31 August 2023
Local Digital Newsletter, 22 August
22 August 2023
Sprint Notes #69
16 August 2023
Future Councils update #3
9 August 2023
Council Spotlight: Stockport’s Family Context tool
2 August 2023
Sprint Notes #68
Sprint Notes #67
27 July 2023
Council Spotlight: Rushmoor’s digital election service
13 July 2023
Sprint Notes #66
6 July 2023
Reviewing the Local Digital Declaration 5 years on: Update on the discovery project
3 July 2023
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This month marks a key milestone for the Local Digital Declaration as it reaches its fifth anniversary, and we’ll be celebrating throughout July.
Future Councils update #2
30 June 2023
Sprint Notes #65
21 June 2023
Sprint Notes #64
7 June 2023
Meet the Team: Tom Lowndes, Collaboration & Engagement Manager
30 May 2023
Future Councils update #1
25 May 2023
Sprint Notes #63
23 May 2023
Supporting the development of transformative leaders within local government
22 March 2023
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Following the success of last year’s Executive Education Programme in Digital Transformation for UK Local Government, we decided to run the programme again.
Transforming digital services for councils through our Round 6 projects
7 March 2023
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We’re pleased to announce the 17 council-led digital projects that will be awarded funding through Round 6 of the Local Digital Fund.
Future Councils: Meet our 8 pilot councils
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We are delighted to announce the councils that will be taking part in the pilot of Future Councils.
Council Spotlight: Birmingham’s Guardian App
15 February 2023
Meet the Local Digital team: Phil James, Community Engagement Manager
13 February 2023
Meet the Local Digital team: Gemma Matthews, Senior Product Manager
1 February 2023
How our Round 5 projects are contributing to local government transformation
24 January 2023
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Before our selected projects begin their work on Round 6 of the Local Digital Fund, we’re taking a look back at projects from our previous round.
Meet the Local Digital team: Leon Ackie, Collaboration Manager
10 January 2023
Local Digital: 2022 in review
20 December 2022
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In this blog post, we want to celebrate some of our highlights from 2022 and provide an insight of what's to come in 2023.
Insights from the Cyber Assessment Framework for Local Government pilot
14 December 2022
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As our first phase of the CAF for Local Government comes to an end, we’re keen to share some insights and feedback before we move forward.
Meet the Local Digital team: Paul Tait, Delivery Manager
1 December 2022
Future Councils: Delivering pathways for councils to become modern and resilient organisations
25 October 2022
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We’re delighted to announce that applications are now open to join the pilot of Future Councils.
Meet the Local Digital team: Rachel Downs, Senior Product Manager
16 September 2022
Piloting a Cyber Assessment Framework for Local Government
31 August 2022
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We want to set a clear standard and expectation around cyber resilience for local authorities in England, based on the established NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF).
Celebrating four years of the Local Digital Declaration
8 August 2022
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In this blog post, we want to celebrate our highlights from the fourth anniversary of the Declaration and share stories that we’ve heard from the community
What we learned from the Local Digital Roadshow 2022
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This year has seen the Local Digital team travelling around the country for the first time in two years as part of the Local Digital Roadshow series.
Council Spotlight: How the Task Smart App is helping councils to tackle more than 160 common tasks
28 June 2022
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Tom Lowndes (Local Digital Collaboration Manager) shares an update on the progress of the Task Smart App funded project, led by Colchester Borough Council. This beta project is developing a platform that will enable tasks and requests logged online by customers to route directly to council officers working in the field.
Building confidence and expertise in local government for successful digital transformation
21 April 2022
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In March this year, we teamed up with the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Institute to jointly deliver a virtual programme for local government at no cost.
Exciting next steps for Local Digital and Cyber
13 April 2022
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The Local Digital and Cyber teams are going to be making some exciting changes over the next few months, backed by multi-year funding to the tune of £85 million.
Reflections on my time as the Head of Local Digital
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In this blog post, I want to reflect back on the lessons learnt and achievements, such as bringing local authorities together to solve common challenges, and in particular how a group of local authorities and suppliers are cooperating together to deliver an open source solution.
Council Spotlight: Achieving for Children
17 February 2022
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For this edition of the Council Spotlight, we are highlighting Achieving for Children — a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three councils.
Modernising planning software in collaboration with councils and their suppliers
21 January 2022
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Our digital planning software work is moving into a new phase of collaboration and delivery with Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) and software providers.
Council Spotlight: East Sussex and Data to Insight
22 December 2021
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For November’s edition of the Council Spotlight, we invited East Sussex County Council to share the story of Data to Insight, a national children’s services data collaboration. East Sussex County Council hosts Data to Insight as part of the South East Sector Led Improvement Programme.
We’re awarding funding to 9 projects through Round 5 of the Local Digital Fun
16 November 2021
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Today we’re pleased to announce the 9 council-led digital projects that will be awarded funding through Round 5 of the Local Digital Fund.
How our training offer is supporting local government with day-to-day working
18 October 2021
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It’s been seven months since we launched an online library of training courses to support our local government colleagues to develop their digital skills while working remotely. In that time, we’ve had 218 applications from people working in more than 100 councils for more than 40 courses.
Council Spotlight: Croydon Digital
12 October 2021
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As part of our new council spotlight feature, we invited Croydon Council to share their digital transformation story with us. In this guest blog, Dave Briggs, Head of Digital Operations at Croydon Digital Service, and his colleagues, share their journey to building the Croydon Digital Service and the role of the Local Digital Declaration.
MHCLG launch two beta products in a first step towards digital planning reform
30 June 2021
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We’re pleased to announce the launch of a private beta of two new council-led digital planning products, funded by the Local Digital Fund.
What our training offer is teaching us about the needs of local government
10 June 2021
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Earlier this year, we launched a library of online training courses to support our local government colleagues to learn and develop their digital skills while working remotely. We want to share with you what we’ve learned so far and what we plan to do next. You can also find out how we’ve expanded the offer to provide even more training opportunities.
The Cyber Support team’s technical remediation and support activities
18 March 2021
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During the cyber security discovery last year, we identified five areas of opportunity for MHCLG to support councils in improving their cyber health. One of these areas was technical remediation: providing support to councils identified through the survey on mitigating malware and ransomware.
Kicking off the Cyber Health Framework Alpha phase
3 March 2021
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During a Cyber discovery in 2020, a Cyber Health Framework was identified as one of the main areas of opportunity to progress into an alpha project, supporting council staff to navigate numerous and sometimes overlapping standards.
Creating a more flexible funding model for the Local Digital Fund
17 February 2021
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The Continuous Funding Model (CFM) is a more flexible way for funding digital projects through the Local Digital Fund. Find out how it's been developed, how it works and who can apply.
Announcing our new digital skills training offer
10 February 2021
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We have developed a virtual training offer that will ensure we can still support local authority staff to learn and develop their digital skills.
A look back at Local Digital in 2020
11 January 2021
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In this blog post we share just some of LDCU'S 2020 highlights and momentous moments, plus a teaser for what’s coming up in 2021.
Key findings and recommendations from the cyber security discovery
30 September 2020
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The Local Digital Collaboration Unit Cyber team has come to the end of a two-month discovery into cyber security at local authorities.
We’ve funded 11 collaborative projects through the Local Digital COVID-19 Challenge
27 July 2020
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We are delighted to announce the 11 projects that will be awarded funding through the Local Digital COVID-19 Challenge.
Our research to help councils with their coronavirus response
27 May 2020
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The team conducted extensive desk research into how councils across England are communicating their COVID-19 support to residents. Find out more about our approach and what we discovered.
The cyber security pre-discovery: what we’ve learned and what happens now
26 May 2020
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The Local Digital Collaboration Unit have published their findings from a 40-day pre-discovery into cyber security in local authorities.
COVID-19 recovery: Looking at the future local digital landscape with councils
13 May 2020
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Over the last 6 weeks, the Local Digital team has run weekly Friday calls to facilitate discussions across local authorities, as teams respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Kicking off the cyber security pre-discovery
26 March 2020
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The Local Digital team have started work on a pre-discovery to understand how we can better support local government on cyber security. Read about the work being planned into reducing cyber risks and becoming more cyber resilient across the sector.
Continued support for Local Digital Fund projects
13 March 2020
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MHCLG has awarded further funding to 6 projects through the Local Digital Fund. Read about the projects that are continuing their work to fix the plumbing of public services.
What we got up to during the pre-election period
23 December 2019
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Read about the continued work of the Local Digital Collaboration Unit and the events the team attended during the recent pre-election period.
We’ve delivered training to 1000 council employees
19 December 2019
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MHCLG pledged to train 1000 local authority staff as part of our mission to support the 'Local Digital' movement. Read about how the Local Digital Collaboration Unit have achieved this and how your local authority can access free digital training.
We’ve funded more collaborative projects through the Local Digital Fund
31 October 2019
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Round 3 of the Local Digital Fund has closed and MHCLG has backed 7 more collaborative digital projects across local government.
Updates to the Local Digital Fund application process
1 August 2019
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The Local Digital Fund is opening to applications from new collaborative projects across local government. Read about our latest updates.
One year of fixing the plumbing: the Local Digital Declaration
15 July 2019
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It's been one year since the Local Digital Declaration was published. The Local Digital Collaboration Unit at MHCLG reflect upon the achievements so far, and how their future work can further deliver upon the promises and principles of the Declaration.
Lessons we learned at the Future Proptech exhibition
18 June 2019
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The Digital Land team was represented at this year’s FUTURE: PropTech event to engage with and learn from innovators in the housing and planning sector. Find out more about the event and what we learned.
Following our funded projects
25 March 2019
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Members of the Local Digital Collaboration Unit at MHCLG have been working closely with the 16 Local Digital Fund projects. Read about the information they're gathering, how they aim to measure the value of collaborative working and the collaborative tools that the funded projects have utilised so far.
Helping local government Chief Digital Officers make the most of the Local Digital Declaration
19 March 2019
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We ran a discovery workshop on 12 February with 10 municipal digital leaders, Bloomberg Associates and Socitm to understand how we might better network and support them. Read the summary, the full event log and what we’re planning as a result.
Supporting digital innovation in PropTech
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The Digital Land Policy team are working to support digital innovation in the PropTech sector. Peter Latham talks about who has joined the team, the findings they have already made and what they're planning to do next.
Digital in a policy department
15 March 2019
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MHCLG is traditionally a policy department of government. Paul Maltby, who leads the Digital directorate, talks about the ways in which digital and policy can work together, and how the principles of OneTeamGov could define the future of the Civil Service.
How we work is part of the work we do
4 March 2019
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The Digital Land Services team and the Developer Contributions Planning Policy team have been working together to make developer contributions open and transparent. Read more to learn about how ways of working can impact collaboration within an organisation.
We’ve published the commitments of 145 Local Digital Declaration signatories
8 February 2019
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145 signatories of the Local Digital Declaration committed to projects that work towards better outcomes for citizens through digital. All of these commitments have now been published on the Local Digital website.
The 16 funded projects to kick-start ‘Mission Wiki Fix’
7 December 2018
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We are delighted to announce that the Local Digital Fund is backing 16 projects in its first round, supporting 57 councils to find innovative routes towards improved digital services.
Selecting the first Local Digital Fund projects
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An expert panel joined the Local Digital Collaboration Unit team to review the projects shortlisted for the Local Digital Fund awards. Read how the successful bids were decided upon from the 77 full applications received.
Designing the market response to the Local Digital Declaration
6 December 2018
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Hosted by techUK, this co-design workshop invited tech suppliers and vendors to explore different areas of response to the Declaration. See the progress made at the event by each working group and the planned next steps.
Setting up the Local Digital Fund: what we’ve learnt and how we’re adapting
14 November 2018
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What we've learnt from the expressions of interest stage and how we'll be taking the full Local Digital Fund applications forward from here.
Over 80 organisations have endorsed the Local Digital Declaration
1 November 2018
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The Local Digital team is delighted to announce that since its launch in July, the Local Digital Declaration has had senior sign-off from 86 organisations.
Releasing up to 389 Local Digital Fund proposals
14 October 2018
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This has been an important, madly busy week for our new Local Digital Collaboration Unit. In just a 2-week period, we received 389 unique expressions of interest in running collaborative Local Digital Fund projects from 171 organisations. Taking open to the whole next level, our next next task is to publish the whole lot on our website.
The Local Digital Fund opens for applications
21 September 2018
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In this blog post, Local Government Minister Rishi Sunak announces the launch of the Local Digital Fund and outlines the application process. The fund will be used to enable local councils to work together on a digital project, as well as to enhance the digital capability of local teams.
Discovering what leaders need to make decisions in the digital age
20 September 2018
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We will be using the Local Digital Fund to build the capability of leaders delivering digital services, through digital leadership training. Local Digital Advisor Gavin Beckett outlines the user research the team have been doing to test their proposition, and what they learnt.