How is AI used in UK government? And what next steps are needed? PAC report published
26 Mar 2025
5 min read
The UK's Public Accounts Committee has published its report on Use of AI in Government.
The report is based on oral evidence from DSIT and Cabinet Office about the use of AI in government, as well as written evidence from industry.
The report's conclusions and recommendations are:
1. Out–of–date legacy technology and poor data quality and data–sharing is putting AI adoption in the public sector at risk.
Within six months, DSIT should set out publicly how it intends to:
a. Prioritise and ensure funding for the remediation of the highest–risk legacy technology
b. Establish an approach for measuring the costs associated with addressing legacy technology, as well as the costs of failing to act, to increase transparency and improve decision making
c. Track funding allocated for remediation work and take action where progress is slow
d. Address the risks to AI adoption resulting from barriers to data–sharing and poor data quality.
2. Public trust is being jeopardised by slow progress on embedding transparency and establishing robust standards for AI adoption in the public sector.
DSIT should write to the committee in six months to update us on:
- Departmental compliance with the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard and further action it is taking to tackle gaps in transparency to strengthen public trust, including to address public concerns over data privacy and the sharing of sensitive data.
- How its strengthened spend controls for high–risk AI use cases will support safe and ethical AI roll–out.
3. There are persistent digital skills shortages in the public sector and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) plans to address the skills gap may not be enough.
DSIT and Cabinet Office should write to the committee alongside publication of the Digital and AI Roadmap to:
- explain how the planned reforms are expected to resolve the skills gap and by when, including how they will encourage the flow of digital skills between the private and public sectors, ensure digital leaders are more influential in decision making and embed a digital–first ethos into the civil service
- explain how they will monitor and evaluate the reforms so they can take action swiftly if reforms are not successful, and
- set out their plans for reporting progress publicly.
4. DSIT has no systematic mechanism for bringing together learning from pilots and there are few examples of successful at–scale adoption across government.
To learn from AI pilots and support the scaling of the most promising use cases DSIT should:
a. set up a mechanism for systematically gathering and disseminating intelligence on pilots and their evaluation
b. Set out how it will identify common and scalable AI products and support their development and roll–out at scale.
5. DSIT and Cabinet Office have a long way to go to strengthen government’s approach to digital procurement to ensure value for money and a thriving AI supplier market.
DSIT, in collaboration with Cabinet Office, should set out publicly how its proposed AI sourcing and procurement framework will:
- get the best from all suppliers in a market dominated by a small number of global technology companies and ensure opportunities are available for small suppliers
- align with the overarching digital technology sourcing strategy (on how government builds, buys and partners) that the Blueprint for modern digital government promises
- leverage government’s spending power to achieve value for money for citizens
- Ensure those taking procurement decisions across government have access to the right digital skills and knowledge.
6. Realising the benefits of AI across the public sector will require strong leadership from DSIT.
a. DSIT must ensure that the proposed Government Digital and AI Roadmap is underpinned by a clear implementation plan with:
- clear accountabilities at the centre, across government and the wider public sector
- delivery milestones to drive change and maintain momentum
- metrics to track progress and spend over time, to identify whether further levers are needed to support implementation.
b. The Cabinet Office should consider the inclusion of a passage in each organisation’s annual report and accounts on their progress on digital and AI transformation alongside ensuring the commitment to placing senior digital leaders, with suitable expertise, on all executive teams and boards is met promptly.
c. The Cabinet Office should consider whether a Government Digital Service officer with digital and procurement skills could be embedded at a senior level in each Department and agencies. Equally the procurement and main board should contain individuals with these skills.
The report comes in the context of changes within government to AI, including:
- publication of A blueprint for modern digital government in January 2025 which included “an ambition to harness the power of AI for public good and included a number of priority reforms”;
- a new Government Digital Service, established in January 2025, with the aim of “uniting efforts to grasp the opportunities of technology and AI under DSIT”. This involved relocating three functions from the Cabinet Office to DSIT: the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), which leads the government’s Digital and Data function; the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (i.AI), which works across the public sector to identify and pilot AI opportunities; and the Government Digital Service, responsible for building common digital products and services across government.
As part of giving evidence, DSIT said:
- it will develop technical standards and guidelines, publish guidance, and strengthen DSIT’s spend controls around the use of high–risk AI systems;
- that that more records should be published on the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard;
- as part of its blueprint for modern digital government, it will require all executive teams and boards of public sector bodies to include a digital leader by 2026; and
- it intends to publish a new Digital and AI roadmap for Government, which will set out the detailed projects underpinning the vision set out in the blueprint.
We submitted a response to an earlier part of PAC's inquiry into government use of AI, which we summarise here.
If you would like to discuss how current or future regulations impact what you do with AI, please contact Tom Whittaker, Brian Wong, Lucy Pegler, Martin Cook, Liz Smith or any other member in our Technology team.
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Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “This Committee’s role is to help ensure efficient Government policy delivery through our recommendations. The potential for AI to secure widespread efficiencies is obvious, and the need for digital improvements is a theme that will run through all our inquiries as through a stick of rock. The AI industry needs a Government that is on its side, while making sure that any opportunities for improvement are seized in a safe and ethical way. Transparency is key here, as public trust that AI will work for them is central to any successful use of it. We still have a long way to go in this area."
