In the Spotlight: Renfrewshire Council

Background

Through its partnership with ICS.AI and the deployment of its AI digital advisor, Millie, Renfrewshire Council has significantly improved service accessibility, reduced demand on contact centres, and delivered measurable cost savings.

Challenge

Like many local authorities, Renfrewshire Council faced rising contact centre demand, increasing resident expectations, and pressure to deliver efficient services with limited resources. Residents needed faster responses, out-of-hours support, and consistent access to accurate information, while the council sought to reduce call volumes and improve operational resilience without compromising service quality.

Solution

In November 2024, Renfrewshire Council (team members pictured) partnered with ICS.AI to deploy Millie, an AI-powered digital advisor designed to support residents across key council services.

Deployed as part of a wider digital transformation strategy, Millie was built to:

• Handle high volumes of resident enquiries at scale
• Provide support outside traditional office hours
• Understand diverse Scottish accents with high accuracy
• Resolve enquiries independently where possible, reducing pressure on staff

Results

Since launch, Millie has delivered transformative results for both residents and the council:

• 392,000+ resident enquiries handled
• Nearly 100,000 enquiries managed out of hours, improving accessibility
• 40 percent of enquiries resolved without human intervention
• Lowest monthly call volumes in nearly a decade
• £110,000 in direct cost savings delivered
• 98 percent+ speech and accent recognition accuracy, even with strong regional accents

The success of the platform has led the council to undertake a broader AI assessment to identify further use cases across services.

Beyond Renfrewshire, ICS.AI has now processed hundreds of thousands of AI-powered calls across Scottish councils, including projects with Argyll & Bute, positioning Scotland as a national blueprint for AI-driven resident services, it said.

“Scotland’s councils are showing the value of innovation and technology in delivering better services to residents nationwide,” said councillor John Shaw. “Partnerships like ICS.AI’s are helping to unlock this potential even further. AI has the potential to unlock better, fairer, more efficient services across Scotland, and it’s encouraging to see our councils at the forefront of this transformation.”

“Renfrewshire’s recognition demonstrates how innovation, service, and partnership can come together to benefit real people,” added Martin Neale, CEO of ICS.AI. “With Millie, we’re showing that AI can be accessible, understanding, and effective – even across diverse Scottish accents and needs. We are in discussion with multiple councils to deliver these improvements to residents nationwide.”

Next steps

Following the success of Millie, ICS.AI is now working with multiple councils nationwide to replicate these improvements, supporting a new generation of accessible, AI-powered public services across the UK.