By Alice Chambers |
Three South Wales councils are deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot to speed up internal processes, reduce paperwork and improve customer service for residents.
In social care teams, the tool streamlines documentation from home visits and support decisions, cutting time spent on paperwork and letting staff focus on residents. Rhondda Cynon Taf, which has deployed Copilot to 300 staff, reports that needs assessments are completed nearly four times faster, case note reviews take less than half the time, and twice as many risk assessments are finished within an hour.
“Social care is a pressurised area with a lot of stress,” said Mari Ropstad, head of social care at Rhondda Cynon Taf. “We’ve lost qualified staff because of it. When staff feel happier, they stay longer, and it’s easier to recruit new team members.”
Ropstad notes that 86 per cent of staff say their work quality has improved, 50 per cent report better wellbeing, and 75 per cent feel more positive about their roles.
Swansea County Council has purchased 1,000 Copilot licences, with 2,500 staff using Copilot Chat across housing, education, customer service and social care. The council estimates it saved 5,400 staff hours in just four weeks.
“It’s giving people hours back – speeding up housing casework, cutting social care admin, improving response quality, and helping us resolve issues faster,” says Ness Young, director of corporate services at Swansea Council.
Swansea is also exploring AI agents to support frontline decisions. In children’s residential care, the technology helps staff spot early signs of risk by detecting patterns in daily records, says Young.
Meanwhile, Carmarthenshire County Council has improved customer service by creating a chatbot that quickly finds the right information, helping agents answer residents’ queries faster and more accurately. Previously, staff had to search through lengthy FAQs or the council website while residents waited on the phone. By moving key resources into Microsoft SharePoint and connecting the chatbot to this centralised data, the council has transformed how it helps residents.