My research suggests that chatbots are not currently widely used in local government. At present around 12% of councils in UK and Ireland provide a chatbot facility and an equal number of councils choose to use webchat as use chatbots (see the table below):
| Council type | Councils using Webchat | Councils using Chatbots |
| English District | 21 | 12 |
| English Non-Unitary | 2 | 7 |
| English Unitary | 15 | 19 |
| London Borough | 4 | 3 |
| Irish City | 1 | 0 |
| Irish County | 0 | 0 |
| Irish Unitary | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Irish | 1 | 1 |
| Scottish Unitary | 7 | 4 |
| Welsh Unitary | 0 | 6 |
| Total | 51 | 52 |
Availability of chatbots on council websites
About half of councils with chatbots choose to place them on all web pages and half only place them on the service pages that they relate to. Chatbot usage is probably improved by being on all pages, but if it can’t adequately answer service sitewide queries then its not worth adding across the website.
| Are chatbots added to all web pages? | Yes | No |
| Number of councils | 27 (51%) | 25 (49%) |
Chatbot help pages
There are only small number of examples of help pages about chatbots. Relatively few councils explain why they have introduced chatbots, what they cover and how they can be used. As councils are often trialling chatbot functionality this content is important as it helps to promote its use. Examples of best practice on this include Cheshire East Council, Pembrokeshire County Council and Lewes and Eastbourne Councils. I particularly like Pembrokeshire County Council’s ‘Reasons to try Penfro’, which details the potential benefits of using their chatbot.
In other cases information about chatbots focusses on potential accessibility and personal data issues. Information relating to accessibility or personal data should be covered by all councils using chatbots.
Liverpool City Council clearly explains the accessibility status of their chatbot. My only criticism would be that the accessibility statement for their chatbot was last reviewed in October 2021 so probably needs to be updated.
An example of best practice on the data aspect of chatbots is Aberdeen City Council, who explain how they will use any personal data given by customers whilst interacting with a chatbot.
| Is a chatbot help page provided? | Yes | No |
| Number of councils | 15 (29%) | 37 (71%) |
Chatbot description
The description given to a chatbot varies from council to council. Some call them chatbots while others refer to them as digital, smart or virtual assistants. In one council it was introduced as a smart assistant and then as a chatbot. In another council it was referred to as both a smart assistant and as a virtual assistant. Some consistency on the description of the service across councils might be useful.
Chatbot naming
Some councils have chosen to give their chatbot a name, perhaps in an attempt to give it a personality or make it feel less robotic (see the table below).
| Chatbot name | Council |
| AB-1 | Aberdeen City Council |
| Abbot | Argyle and Bute Council |
| AiDA | Cheshire West and Chester Council |
| Aimee | Rother District Council |
| Ami | Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council |
| Basil | Coventry City Council |
| Berkley | West Berkshire Council |
| Beth | Torfaen County Borough Council |
| BOB | Broxbourne Council |
| BOBi | Cardiff Council |
| Bobbie | Breckland Council |
| BrenDA | Brent Council |
| Cecilia | Cheshire East Council |
| Darcie | Derby City Council |
| ELLIS | Lewes and Eastbourne Councils |
| Impy | Lincolnshire County Council |
| Ker-Know | Cornwall Council |
| Max | Lewisham Council |
| Max | Swindon Council |
| Mona | Isle of Anglesey |
| Monty | Monmouthshire County Council |
| Nova | North Hertfordshire District Council |
| Oggie | Bridgend County Borough Council |
| Owlbot | Leeds City Council |
| Penfro | Pembrokeshire County Council |
| Ria | Derry City and Strabane District Council |
| Sam | Lichfield District Council |
| Sur-i | Surrey County Council |
| Tom | Telford & Wrekin Council |
| Vira | Calderdale Council |
| WALIS | Walsall Council |
Chatbot service topics
One of the key purposes of a chatbot on council website is to try to answer frequently asked questions. This helps to reduce the load on a customer services team, but also helps customers by saving them the time and effort of phoning up or trying to find an answer on the website.
In this section I have identified the main services that councils have signposted on their chatbots. Bins and recycling is the most popular service in this respect, largely because it is the service that perhaps generates the most queries from customers. Council tax, benefits, planning and parking are also popular chatbot service topics.
I was pleased to see that a few councils have added in Cost of living support, recognising it as a growing need. Chatbots should be regularly reviewed to make sure that the information that they provide is up to date and relevant.
Further information on chatbots
If you are considering adding a chatbot to your council’s website I would thoroughly recommend reading about the Local Digital project on Chatbots and AI. The project lead on this was Neil Lawrence, now a Product Owner at Placecube.
Other useful sources of information include:
- Can chatbots and AI help solve service design problems?
- Using chatbots and webchat tools
- 6 tips for building a genuinely helpful chatbot
About this research
Over the next year I will be extending my research to include a range of other topics, which I hope will be of interest and use throughout local government. These topics will include:
- British Sign Language (BSL) and text relay
- News and events
I will continue to update the webchat and chatbot Airtable below as and when I find out about any changes. Please do check out the Extensions section of the Airtable as this enables you to search and visualise the data presented on the database.
If you spot any errors or want to report any changes please do get in contact.