Over the past six months, we’ve been developing our understanding of local government software markets. Our new blog shares how we're supporting councils to make better procurement decisions and introduces a new interactive dashboard to help improve market transparency.

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In April, the Local digital team in MHCLG began a discovery project to explore how GOV.UK One Login could work for local government. In this blog, we share key findings and insights based on conversations with councils and suppliers.

We are also inviting councils to take part in the current phase of research. The findings will be shared with the Government Digital Service to shape future direction.

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English councils are invited to apply for MHCLG’s Digital Planning Improvement Fund. This £50,000 supports councils to accelerate digital transformation within their planning services.

Successful applicants will:

• assess their digital planning maturity
• develop a tailored action plan
• prepare and publish planning datasets to the Planning Data Platform, and become part of Open Digital Planning, a network of forward-thinking planning authorities

Officers will also gain access to bespoke training to build digital skills.

Applications are open now and will close at 12pm on Thursday 30 October. Selected councils will begin their funded work in February 2026.

A Q&A session will take place at 11:30am on Monday 20 October.

Find out more and apply

Join Open Referral UK’s show and tell to learn how councils are using the data standard and see practical examples in their ‘use cases’ catalogue.

The session will include:

• an update on the standard
• community discussions
• what’s next for the project

This event is particularly relevant to digital leads, service directory owners, and anyone working with open data or standards.

Join this in-person briefing to explore how suppliers and councils can work together more effectively during reorganisation. Insights will help shape future supplier guidance on local government reorganisation.

Join Swindon Borough Council and Jadu to discover how partnership, purpose, and platforms drive transformation. Hear from senior leaders and explore real-world case studies.

The 10 day event has over 200 free talks about all things AI. Sessions include discussions on Bias and Ethics to using Generative AI and Agentic Agents to drive efficiency and improve productivity in your organisation.

The Cyber Security Conference will equip senior officials with the insight needed to respond to cyber threats to public services.

Our Service Owner for Defend as One, Ben Carlton, will be joining a panel discussing 'Protecting frontline services from cyber threats'.

These three 90-minute sessions will cover:

• the new Data (Use and Access) Act
• responsible AI and machine learning
• legal, ethical and practical considerations
• sector case studies and new tools

Access a collection of digital learning resources that have been developed for the sector following research and testing with councils. The resources introduce new approaches to designing products and services.

Access the resources