Lichfield

Lichfield District Council

Answering 40,000+ Resident Questions with AI-powered Self-service

Lichfield District Council

Transforming resident self-service and reducing pressure on teams

Lichfield District Council is a local authority in the heart of England, supporting a vibrant, prosperous economy and community of more than 112,000 people in Staffordshire.

With increasing demand for digital services, Lichfield wanted to make it easier for residents to find information and complete transactions online, while reducing pressure on teams dealing with routine enquiries and processing. 

By combining Jadu Central, AI-powered search and automated back-office processing, Lichfield has created a more consistent digital experience for residents while giving its teams more time to focus on people who need additional support. 

The impact is already significant. In nine months, AI-powered search has answered 40,000+ resident questions, achieving a 97% answer rate. At the same time, 86% of Council Tax Support changes are now processed automatically, while 28,000 - 30,000 Universal Credit notifications are handled without manual intervention, every year. 

 

We want residents to be able to find the information they need as quickly and easily as possible. AI-powered search gives people another way to access relevant information online, while helping us understand what residents are looking for and where we can keep improving. The more routine queries people can resolve themselves, the more time our teams can focus on those who need additional support.

Simon Fletcher, Chief Executive, Lichfield District Council

The Challenge

As Lichfield expanded its online services, the council identified several barriers that made it harder for residents to self-serve and created additional pressure on staff.

A fragmented digital estate - Residents often struggled to find the right service online. With more than 230 forms created independently across departments, journeys were inconsistent and difficult to navigate, leading some residents to abandon self-service and contact the council instead. 

Search that couldn’t keep up - As new services went online, the existing website search did not reliably index them. Poor search results meant residents could be sent back to the phone even when the information they needed was already available online. 

A growing processing burden - Council Tax Support notifications, each requiring manual review, had reached a volume that stretched team resources and made it increasingly difficult to keep up with demand. Lichfield needed a digital approach that could handle increasing demand while maintaining a high-quality experience for residents.

 

 

The Solution

Working with Jadu and Govtech, both part of Netcall, Lichfield created a connected digital platform spanning resident self-service, AI-powered search and automated benefits processing. 

Creating a consistent digital front door - Using Jadu Central, Lichfield redesigned its website and introduced a single, standardised form journey across services as part of a wider digital transformation programme. Replacing 230 independently built forms with one consistent resident experience improved accessibility, usability and service efficiency. Residents now have a clearer way to access services, and the council has a more structured digital estate.

Providing answers to residents directly - Lichfield introduced Agent-Ex: Search to handle the volume of a busy contact centre and absorb spikes in demand without requiring additional staffing. Rather than simply directing residents towards a list of links, AI-powered search provides specific, contextual responses to their questions. The technology helps Lichfield identify where residents struggle to find information, allowing the council to address content gaps before they result in complaints, delays or unmet needs. It also provides evidence to prioritise improvements based on real resident behaviour.

Automated Revenues and Benefits processing - Lichfield also restructured its Revenues and Benefits team around automation within its Govtech solution, creating a banded discount model, helping to unlock levels of automation that were not previously possible. With the same headcount, the team can process a significantly higher volume, freeing officers to focus on complex cases that need their expertise and human judgement. The scheme was redesigned as a banded discount model, unlocking automation that was not previously possible.

 

We’ve moved from lots of different digital journeys towards a much more consistent approach, making it easier for residents to find what they need and access services online. Just as importantly, we now have much better insight into what people are searching for and where we need to improve. We’ve made significant progress, but we’re continuing to learn and develop our digital services.

Joan Tharm, Digital Lead, Lichfield District Council

Lichfield District Council

The Results

  • 40,000+ questions answered in 9 months - answered with no phone call, no email and no queue. 

  • 97% answer rate - responses average 137 words, providing specific, actionable guidance rather than a list of links to sift through. 

  • Demand spikes absorbed - high-pressure days are handled without queues, hold times or additional staffing, while residents receive instant answers. 

  • Content gaps identified and evidenced - Lichfield has a prioritised, data-driven view of where residents are struggling. 

  • 17 languages served - out of 70+ available languages with Agent-Ex: Search, including Arabic, Chinese, Korean and Polish, reaching residents who would otherwise have no self-service option. 

  • 86% processed automatically - Council Tax Support changes are processed automatically with same-day turnaround, compared with previous multi-day manual reviews. The latest release is targeting 90%+. 

  • Time for residents - increased self-service allows the team to focus on residents who need more support. 

  • 28-30,000 Universal Credit notifications handled without manual reassessment each year - a volume that would otherwise have required additional headcount. 

  • 1 FTE workload absorbed - the equivalent workload has been absorbed into the redesigned team without any reduction in service quality. 

  • Reduced overpayment risk - automated decisions are based on DWP-verified data and include a full audit trail. 

  • Live intelligence feed - the system flags where answers were weak, giving Lichfield an evidence-based list of where content needs improving, prioritised by real resident need.