Measuring the impact of the MHCLG Local Digital programme

Why we've commissioned an evaluation of the Local Digital programme

We want to improve our understanding of the challenges councils are facing in terms of digital and cyber security, and measure the impact of the Local Digital programme so far. To do this, we’ve commissioned an independent evaluation of the Local Digital programme to ensure it’s as effective as possible.The evaluation study is being delivered by a consortium of PUBLIC, Daintta and the Society of Innovation, Technology and Modernisation (Socitm), working closely with Local Digital, between May 2023 and May 2025.

We outlined the methodology that the consortium will take to evaluate the programme in the scoping study.

This sets out the proposed process, impact and value for money evaluations. It details the theories of change for the programme and its workstreams, the data collection and analysis methods, and the limitations of the approach. It also develops a programme ambition that unites the aims of the distinct workstreams, in what we have called the ‘new paradigm for digital in the local government sector’.

How the evaluation will benefit the sector

Throughout the study, we are engaging with councils to gather information on their digital and cyber position, challenges they face, and what has and has not worked across Local Digital programme interventions.

The evaluation study will help to:

demonstrate the impact and outcomes of digital and cyber projects within councils
provide councils with a snapshot of their digital and cyber maturity
measure whether the programme has supported councils towards becoming modern and resilient
define how the programme develops future funding opportunities, support and interventions
provide evidence to support the scaling up of council initiatives

The evaluation is only to assess the effectiveness of the Local Digital programme, it is not to examine the performance of councils.

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.

How you can help

We are asking all councils in England to complete the survey, even if they have taken it already, to ensure that we have a comprehensive set of responses from across local government.

The survey, covering digital and cyber posture, takes up to 30m to complete and can be submitted by anyone from the council. We particularly encourage participation from digital and cyber staff.

Additionally, you will find a couple of questions to help us understand the role that the Local Digital Declaration has played in your council.

Take the survey

Why your help matters

Engaging with councils and listening to their feedback on the Local Digital programme is a crucial part of the evaluation. We want to understand how we can best support the sector in advancing their digital and cyber plans, and the evaluation is a primary way we are tackling that.

Recognising that councils are at different stages in their digital and cyber journeys, we aim to gather insights through surveys to tailor our support. Council input, including results from surveys, is already shaping how we adapt our approach to support sector needs.

Completing the updated survey will also provide a useful opportunity to benchmark your council’s digital and cyber readiness. As we did in September 2023, we will publish findings from key survey questions, allowing your council to compare its responses with those across the sector.

If councils are retaking the survey, this will enable us to measure how the programme is affecting your digital and cyber readiness over the longer term.

Find out more and follow our progress

You can watch a recording of our webinar hosted by PUBLIC in October 2023, where initial findings were shared. For further updates on the evaluation study, subscribe to the Local Digital newsletter or follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter or LinkedIn. We will also publish key updates on this page.

Timeline

March 2023

MHCLG kicks off an independent evaluation of the Local Digital programme that will be delivered by a consortium of partners led by PUBLIC. This will take place from May 2023 and May 2025.

July 2023

We held the first meeting of the Expert Advisory Group, which included council leaders, economists, government colleagues, and academics that will critique and steer the evaluation methodology. The group discussed the feasibility of methods for evaluating the programme.

September 2023

We shared some of the initial findings from a survey completed by several councils in a blog post. This survey is a key tool for the evaluation, capturing a range of factors related to councils’ digital and cyber postures.

October 2023

PUBLIC explained some of the initial findings in a webinar available on YouTube. This included a discussion of the main digital priorities and challenges faced by councils, as well as benchmarking on topics like cloud adoption, legacy spend, and service area transformation.

November 2023

We held the second meeting of the Expert Advisory Group. The group discussed the evaluation partners’ proposed evaluation approach and agreed ways to improve it.

February 2024

Theo, our Local Digital Economist, announced that the team is developing a model to assess the risk and impact of cyber attacks on councils to support the evaluation. We want this model to be as useful to the sector as possible, so we welcome any feedback – follow the link to find out more and how you can help.

March 2024

We updated this webpage to include some key findings so far, and the benefits for councils that share their insights.

April 2024

We published the scoping study, which summarises the approach that we and our evaluation partners will be taking throughout the evaluation of the programme. It uncovers the breadth of activities Local Digital has done since 2018, as well as the challenges this variety presents for a scientific understanding of what has worked. The approach we propose tackles these challenges by recognising the diversity of councils that have participated in the programme.

May 2024

We held a roundtable with council cyber experts and academics to discuss the local authority cyber risk model that we’ve been developing. This produced excellent insights for us to incorporate into the model.

We also convened the Expert Advisory Group to discuss a draft of the interim process evaluation. Part of this evaluation involves taking stock of the characteristics of Local Digital participants and how they interacted with the programme. The group focused on testing whether the information collected will support the later impact evaluation to understand what types of interventions worked for councils at different points in their digital transformation journey.

June 2024

The evaluation partners produced a completed draft of the interim process evaluation. This will form a section of the final evaluation report expected next Spring.

July 2024

MHCLG produced a working paper of the local authority cyber risk model for internal comment. The model will support the evaluation partners in their impact analysis of the Cyber Support workstream.