"Change isn't just what we want to deliver, it's what we need to deliver," Andrew Western MP kicks off Government Transformation Summit

"Change isn't just what we want to deliver, it's what we need to deliver," says Andrew Western MP, as he delivers the ministerial keynote at this year's Government Transformation Summit. 

Western is the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Transformation at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the only MP dedicated to government transformation. 

change isn't just what we want to deliver, it's what we need to deliver, because the world is changing around us" - Andrew Western, MP

Effectively transforming digital government will be necessary to reach government aims to slash public sector running costs by 15% by the end of the decade.

Leading the charge at DWP 

Western is leading the way on transformation within the DWP following through on the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology's Blueprint for Modern Digital Government.

Emphasising the value of this document, Western says "the blueprint recognises that as a country, we will only fully benefit from the potential of science and technology if the public sector leads by example." 

Via the DWP's Service Modernisation Programme, departmental costs will be reduced by 40% by 2033. Western says he is already taking confidence from the success of improvements to the Child Maintenance Service. 

The service has been using AI to improve messaging and process claims faster, saving over 920,000 hours in efficiencies for staff.

Wider government adoption 

A recent collaborative AI transformation sprint between DWP and HMRC alongside the Department for Innovation, Science and Technology, Number Ten and HM Treasury led to key recommendations back in May. These will shape a GDS proposal for a two two-year transformation task force. 

DWP is also supporting three GDS projects which are part of the treasury's new £3.25 billion transformation fund. These projects involve using AI to boost productivity in HR, finance and policy, streamlining case mapping in contact centres and deploying citizen AI agents which can, for example, help people find jobs. 

More widely, the government is turning digital visions into reality by transforming the NHS app to make booking appointments and renewing prescriptions easier. The upcoming Gov.uk app and Gov.uk wallet will further these aims reaching for the target of 85% of government transactions to be online outlined in the Blueprint for Modern Digital Government, referenced above. 

Ultimately, Western says "harnessing digital, data and AI is critical to delivering a more productive state and that, in turn, is crucial to lifting productivity in the wider economy." The key is transforming to make better, more accessible, more personalised public services.