Scottish councils turn to tech to tackle resources crisis

Scottish councils are using technology to combat financial pressures, Holyrood can reveal.

Writing for Holyrood’s Local Authorities Guide, council leaders have explained how they are implementing digital tools to “do more with less”.

“Innovation is more important than ever”, the Edinburgh City Council leader Jane Meagher said.

The local authority is upgrading older homes to meet modern energy efficiency standards via its retrofitting programme, which is helping to tackle “long-standing issues like damp and fuel poverty” as well as slash energy bills and tackle the housing crisis. It is also digitising housing applications in a bid to make services “more accessible”.

Last week, five councils announced their biggest council tax increase in two decades, which will come into place once the nationwide freeze ends in April. It follows on from the Accounts Commission warning councils face a “challenging future with significant financial risks”.

The Scottish budget allocated an additional £1bn for local authorities in 2025/2026, but the spending watchdog said the increase in funding would not “cancel out the urgent need for transformation, at a pace and depth we’ve not yet seen”. Prior to the budget, councils had warned they were facing a funding gap of around £400m.

To cut costs and its carbon footprint Angus Council has “practically” made its back-office services virtual-only, its leader Bill Duff said, while Argyll and Bute Council is using technology to tackle fuel poverty.

In November, the latter became the first local authority in Scotland to launch an area-wide mobile coverage survey. Using bin lorries, it carried out a mapping exercise to detect connectivity gaps in the area.

Council leader, Jim Lynch said: “It’s not just necessary to enable everyone to get onto the internet, it’s needed to help tackle issues like fuel poverty. Without access to working smart meters our residents won’t be able to get the cheapest tariffs for their energy. There are so many examples like this and we need to tackle this issue at pace.”

The council has also partnered with tech firm Skyports to use drones to carry out river inspections and deliver school meals, in a move “to improve services in remote communities”.

Other councils are using artificial intelligence to write and summarise reports, and respond to constituents in a “clear and concise manner”.