Local government is operating under unprecedented financial, workforce and service pressures. At the same time, expectations of digital-first, joined-up and reliable public services continue to rise.
While councils have invested in digital teams and technologies, many of the most consequential decisions about services, data, procurement and transformation are taken by senior officers in non-digital roles, often without the shared language, confidence or practical grounding needed to challenge existing ways of working or to fully harness digital and AI responsibly.
Learn. Adapt. Lead has been developed to address this gap.
The Local Government Association (LGA), in partnership with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is piloting a new leadership programme to support senior officers to lead digitally enabled change with confidence, clarity and purpose.
About the pilot
Learn. Adapt. Lead: Digital fluency for local government leaders is a bespoke, instructor-led pilot programme for senior leaders who are accountable for outcomes, reform and place-based delivery, but who are not digital specialists.
The pilot is designed to:
- build leaders’ confidence in engaging with digital, data and AI decisions
- strengthen strategic oversight of digitally enabled transformation
- support ethical, user-centred and resilient public service delivery.
Co-designed with the sector
The pilot is being co-designed with the sector, for the sector, beginning with a structured discovery and design phase.
This phase will work directly with councils and strategic authorities to:
- shape learning objectives around real leadership challenges
- test language, case studies and assumptions
- define what success looks like for different organisational contexts.
Partners involved in the pilot include the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and councils including Somerset Council and East Sussex County Council. Insight from these organisations, alongside wider sector engagement, will directly inform the structure, content and delivery of the programme.
How the pilot will work
The pilot will run in two phases between December 2025 – April 2026.
- Phase 1: Discovery and design
Engagement with senior officers from councils and strategic authorities to refine learning priorities, language, case studies and delivery format. - Phase 2: Pilot training delivery
Delivery of learning content to a small cohort of senior officers, enabling further iteration and evaluation ahead of any future scale-up.
The programme adapts proven MHCLG learning used with central government leaders, reshaped for local government and delivered jointly by the LGA and MHCLG Local Digital.
What the programme focuses on
The pilot is structured around a small number of core leadership capabilities, rather than technical training. These include:
- Data leadership: Understanding the strategic value of high-quality data, ethical stewardship, and evidence-informed decision-making.
- Technology fluency: Building confidence in engaging with key technologies underpinning digital services, including cloud, APIs and AI, and understanding legacy and cyber resilience risks.
- Digital transformation: Aligning digital initiatives with organisational strategy and citizen outcomes, and promoting adaptive, iterative ways of working.
- User-centred service design: Championing inclusive, accessible and joined-up services that reflect user needs across channels.
- Innovation and collaboration: Leading with an innovation mindset, engaging multidisciplinary teams and partners, and balancing internal capability with external expertise.
- AI and emerging technologies: Understanding the opportunities and risks associated with AI and automation, and embedding responsible, well-governed use.
These areas will be refined through discovery and tested during delivery.
How the pilot will run
The pilot will run during December 2025 – April 2026 and will include:
- Discovery, design and success-measure definition
- Delivery of two discrete pilot strands:
- one for local government councils
- one for strategic authorities
- Instructor-led learning delivered to small, discrete cohorts
- Ongoing feedback, evaluation and user research to inform iteration and future scaling.
Independent evaluation will run alongside the pilot to assess impact and inform decisions about any future sector-wide offer.
Staying connected
This is an exploratory pilot and is intended to evolve through ongoing engagement with the sector.
Councils and senior officers who would like to:
- stay informed as the pilot develops, or
- contribute insight during discovery and design activity
are invited to register their interest.
