London’s public sector is drowning in data – but often unable to use it to protect people or improve services. That was the message from Theo Blackwell MBE, London’s chief digital officer, speaking at the Think Data for Government event.
Blackwell (pictured) set out how London is shifting from data as a compliance burden to data as a public service. His flagship initiative, the Data for London Library, is intended to join up datasets currently hidden in organisational silos.
Launched in July by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, the Data for London Library promises to transform how London collects, shares and uses data.
“Data in our city… should help us solve problems that happen at citywide or sub regional level, or give greater insight to boroughs to benchmark themselves. It should enable us to craft new services or form partnerships with others,” he said.
So far, London has connected more than 5000 datasets, with plans to expand rapidly through demand from data users.
Blackwell said that leaders are “swimming in data” but not always shown how it connects directly to prevention. He described a case from his time at Camden, joining up records to build “the Golden Record.”
“They found a service user who over 10 years, had been seen by emergency Social Care System 10 times… all the warning signs were there, but because data wasn’t joined up enough… [there was] not enough help to prevent all the horrible things that had happened to her.”
Camden Blueprint
The London Borough of Camden has continued to pioneer a relationship-based and preventative use of data that Blackwell championed during his time as Cabinet member for digital at the council. While there, data specialists were brought into the heart of decision-making and tied to frontline outcomes. The data team sat in the finance directorate, alongside those reviewing the council’s physical estate – a move that reframed data as a strategic asset, just like buildings.
Elsewhere at Think Data, Martin Waudby, Camden’s chief digital officer, told delegates that success in social care and debt prevention had been built on trust and transparency, including through the Camden Data Charter, which involved residents directly in shaping how their data should be used.
One live project is developing a “single view of debt”, combining income, rent and welfare data to spot risks earlier. That, Waudby explained, enables support before arrears lead to homelessness, court action or costly temporary accommodation.
“It’s using data to identify leading indicators that people are at risk… The outcomes flip around: the council retains more money and, most importantly, the individual has a much better outcome in circumstances that are probably beyond their control.”
The approach shows how joined-up data pays off twice – better financial health for councils, and better life chances for residents.
But while GDPR is often blamed for blocking collaboration, Blackwell argued that process and culture are the real barriers.
London tackled a “data log jam” in serious violence and safeguarding cases by hiring a dedicated information governance lead:
“We resolve the issue in a matter of weeks… we can do that in weeks, as opposed to 18 months or two years,” said Blackwell. “I don’t think it tells us that the law is the problem. I think it tells us that the process and the culture and the capacity is the problem here.”
Crucially, Blackwell argued, a shift is necessary if local government is to realise the promise of AI.
“I don’t think we’ve got much of a hope for expanding the reach and utility of artificial intelligence if we don’t have our data right, especially in local government.”
A Christmas wish: unlock Universal Credit data
Asked what single change from central government would most help local authorities, Blackwell said: “Freeing up Universal Credit data, which is a particularly egregious point for local government… we in local government used to have this data before, and now, apparently we’re not.”
Council leaders want to tackle poverty and unemployment, but currently “have to find a way” to access fragmented data.
“Having a trusted connection between the Universal Credit data owners and local government would be… a wonderful Christmas for many.”
However, Blackwell was optimistic about the collaborative direction of travel:
“By seeing this, flipping it onto a service level, we’ve created, I think, quite powerful momentum on how we see data in our city.”
