Havering Council Approves Digital Strategy to Modernise Services
Havering Council has approved a new digital strategy aimed at transforming its services and improving efficiency for residents. The Havering Digital Approach Strategy 2026, given the green light by the council's Cabinet, outlines a framework for leveraging technology, data, and modern working practices to create a more efficient and financially resilient organisation.
The strategy moves away from viewing digital as a series of standalone IT projects, instead positioning it as a catalyst for organisational change, better service design, reduced waste, stronger governance, and improved data utilisation. Concrete examples of how this strategy will lead to reduced waste and improved service design include automating repetitive tasks to free up staff time, reusing existing and standard platforms to avoid expensive custom-built software, and strengthening cyber resilience to protect resident data.
Councillor Sean McMahon, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, IT & Digital, presented the strategy, highlighting its focus on practical implementation. Key areas of value include enhancing efficiency through automation of repetitive tasks, building resilience by adopting secure systems, making data-led decisions, improving connectivity across teams and partners, and providing staff with modern tools to respond to residents more effectively. The strategy aims to automate repetitive and manual administrative tasks to free up staff time and reduce back-office bottlenecks.
The strategy also emphasises the creation of a single source of truth
for council data, breaking down data silos to establish authoritative and integrated records for residents and properties. This will allow for proactive support to vulnerable residents while maintaining high standards of privacy and security. This 'single source of truth' will be practically implemented by creating a unified, secure data platform that consolidates disconnected datasets, integrating core systems like finance and housing to ensure consistency and reduce residents having to provide the same details multiple times. The council is considering using standard platforms, such as Microsoft 365, with data hosted securely within UK data centres.
Councillor Keith Prince, Leader of the Council, endorsed the move, stating that the strategy aims to reduce the cost of running the council and ensure funds are spent on frontline services rather than back-office administration. He added that the approach prioritises common sense, financial accountability, and ensuring services are straightforward and accessible, with human support remaining available for those who need it. The strategy explicitly states that 'Human and assisted service routes will remain available so that technology does not become a barrier to vulnerable residents.' Physical customer service routes and phone lines will also be maintained for those who rely on them.
Security is a core component of the strategy, with a commitment to a Zero-Trust
security model, AI-enhanced threat detection, and a sovereign cloud architecture to protect resident data and council systems. Specific security measures include verifying, authorising, and continuously monitoring every access request under the Zero-Trust model, using AI to detect cyber threats instantly, and ensuring critical cloud-hosted data is stored securely within UK data centres. Mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) across systems, advanced web and email filters powered by AI to detect phishing scams, malware, and malicious links are also part of the plan.
Future digital, data, and technology decisions will be aligned with council priorities, value for money, cyber resilience, accessibility, and resident needs. Any future implementation activities will require appropriate business cases and will be brought forward through the relevant governance and financial routes. While the strategy aims to reduce costs and improve efficiency, specific anticipated savings and their reallocation are not detailed, though business cases for future initiatives will outline expected financial payback and efficiencies.