Adam Walther

In neither case would a better form improve the outcome. The best examples have state activity automated. So Elterngeld automatically arrives (based on tax data) debt repayments adjusted, passports renewed. Forms sometimes feel like a get out by the state to avoid the hard policy, data, API bit…

In Lambeth I’ve just learned the council has applied for Free School Meals on behalf of parents triggering more Pupil Premium funding.

Two examples. In Woking we improved forms but more importantly upskilled customer service staff to deal with many more queries, empowered them to adjust user payments and aligned more clearly with citizens advice bureau. Family debt levels immediately decreased.

This sounds great esp as the German state is particularly Byzantine.
It was initially you pushing back on the ‘form based interaction model’ which I liked. The forms should be a stepping stone to a automated model

What to do after someone dies The steps you must take when someone dies - register a death, report a death with Tell Us Once, coroners, funerals and death abroad.

Nice. So life event based models? Eg moving house, having a baby or reporting a death? www.gov.uk/after-a-deat...? From personal experience would’ve loved Elterngeld Digital. Thanks for the prompt.
A lot of work needs to continue front and backstage to execute at scale, esp in local gov!

Hi Martin, helpful analysis. You aware of any good case studies of delivering proactive services over form based interaction models? Struggling to pick out from Hamburg or elsewhere but keen to explore

Surrey councillors ask ministers to ‘write off’ Woking’s £1bn debt Taxpayers asked to shoulder burden as beleaguered council expected to merge with neighbouring authorities

“Bank lends 50x annual income and surprised when not paid back in full” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

This is a failure of the audit market - what was done by the Audit Commission was outsourced. Too few providers, very specialist work and not profitable. So here we are.

Dozens of councils to be abolished under biggest reforms in 50 years Move aims to end two-tier system of local government and replace it with larger unitary authorities, aiming to save the taxpayer about £3 billion over five years

Good. Two tiers unworkable #localgov
www.thetimes.com/article/4d4a...

That would be great. Best over email?

Such a good project and let me know if there’s anything else we can do

Appreciated Matt 🙏, it’s been tough, but lots of people doing lots of good work to fix it piece by piece

The single biggest lesson for me is about openness. Make things open, it makes things better, it really does. It makes things accountable, challenged and genuinely innovative, people learn lessons. Which is why I post this here, now, and maybe more in future...

What causes this? Arrogance. Male arrogance mainly. I’m a massive advocate for taking risks and entrepreneurialism but this was a massive overreach without real scrutiny. What happened in Woking is happening elsewhere, even if not at the same scale.

How? Dedicated, hard working staff, with incredible talent amongst them as well as an indisputable burning platform. And copying lots from the sector from governance to web design.

In the next few months we’ll prove some of this by beginning rollout of our new website on localgov drupal with some of the highest accessibility and design standards out there. From a quiet embarrassment to nationally leading.

We changed digital for the better too. Upgraded wifi and cyber, rolled out M365, came out of citrix and into the cloud. Did discoveries, baselined data and upskilled customer service staff to deal with more queries. We finally, finally, talked about user need and made forms and pages accessible

So we got back to basics, wrote a strategy, set up a Recovery Programme, reformed company governance, introduced a Financial Control Panel, welcomed Commissioners, cut staffing by 22% removed non statutory services like climate and biz support and stopped taking phone calls after 1pm

My Head of IT had been there 20 years, reported to the then CEX and spoke to him meaningfully "twice in three years". I had three infrastructure officers in total. The civic centre is a 1970s concrete relic of failing heating, filing cabinets and 20 year old furniture. Pillars of sand.

Technology project aims to make Woking 'Surrey's leading digital town' Woking Borough Council is working with technology and IT service providers to help the town's business community

So muggins here arrives three years ago, and yet the plan was to deliver a 'digital town'. Which is fine until you learn your job is also about providing cloud hosting, phone lines and broadband to local businesses as much as delivering actual council services www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/busines...

These companies needed loans, the council lacked skills to manage them, and the Public Works Loan Board kept lending. £700m residential towers are now worth £210m

In short. Eye watering. Since the 1990s WBC built up a sprawling collection of companies to buy land, develop and in some cases lend money at scale, leading to £2b debt and one of the most complex organisational structures in the public sector, relative to size.

🧵 Today Woking Council have formally accepted a government commissioned report into England’s most indebted council. A few thoughts on what it’s been like on the inside… 🧵

Truly. This is my ‘focused’ inbox. I don’t dare click ‘other’ 🙈

A screenshot of a LinkedIn inbox with all the messages as unsolicited sales pitches

Now X is fertig🦋🙏could someone build a non crap version of LinkedIn please? My inbox is now 💯 spam, my timelines videos of unemployed influencers. Ta.

Noted. I’m crossing all of my fingers and toes that someone has remembered most of government is local, most of the time! 🤞🙏

Was sent an example of AI in action today. A customer service chatbot. Please make it stop.

Nice. There’s an event tomorrow. You going? 👀

6/5…

Gender, race, age all matter, but they are, and always have been, the victims of a more fundamental revolt based on class. So don’t lecture minority groups, women, gen Z. Stop talking. Change the structure, remove some privilege for real.