Local Digital
Local Digital is a team within the UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that funds and supports English local government councils with digital transformation, cyber resilience, data standards, and open-source tooling through the Local Digital Fund, Cyber Assessment Framework, and Future Councils programme.
- Company typePublic
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Local Digital does
Local Digital is a team within the UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), headquartered in London, that provides digital and cyber support to local government councils in England. Founded through the launch of the Local Digital Fund in December 2018 by then-local-government minister Rishi Sunak, the team coordinates cross-council collaboration on digital transformation, cyber resilience, and open data standards rather than operating as a commercial vendor.
Its core portfolio comprises the Local Digital Fund (over £16 million distributed across 61 council-led projects since 2018 across six funding rounds plus a C-19 Challenge and a Continuous Funding Model introduced in February 2021), the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) for local government (adapted from NCSC's framework and launched on the UK Government Security website in October 2024), the £19.9 million Cyber Support programme (since 2020) supplemented by £37.8 million from the Autumn 2021 Budget, the Future Councils programme (8 pilot councils, March–November 2023, £750k each) with its published Playbook, and the Local Digital Declaration signed by 300+ local authorities and supporting organisations. Notable funded project outputs include the Open Referral UK Data Standard (endorsed by the UK Government Data Standards Authority), the Housing Repairs Service (open-source, with Lincoln City Council), the Family Context Tool for children's services, the Back Office Planning System (BOPS), the Quality Data for Children in Care Tool, and the Digital Inclusion Toolkit.
Local Digital's business model is government grant funding: it is appropriation-funded by MHCLG and re-grants funds to councils through periodic funding rounds and a Continuous Funding Model, provides expert advisory support (product ownership, agile delivery, user research, cyber), and produces reusable open-source digital tools, data standards, and playbooks for the sector. The team uses a community-led GTM motion through newsletters, UKAuthority Live events, GDS spotlight webinars, Medium blog posts, and fortnightly show-and-tell sessions. It has trained over 3,000 council staff in digital and cyber skills.
Local Digital firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Local Digital
- Legal name
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) - Local Digital
- Website
- https://localdigital.gov.uk
- Company type
- Public
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Local Digital is a team within the UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that funds and supports English local government councils with digital transformation, cyber resilience, data standards, and open-source tooling through the Local Digital Fund, Cyber Assessment Framework, and Future Councils programme.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Local Digital industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Government Digital Transformation Services
- NAICS
- Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (9251), Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development (92512), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Government Digital Service & eGovernment (Service Delivery, IDs, Portals) (BPAIAAAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Digital Development & ICT4D / GovTech Technical Assistance (BPADAEAL), Workplace Accessibility, Adoption & Change Management (Digital Adoption, training, comms) (BPAEAIAN), Digital Inclusion & Civic Tech (Connectivity, GovTech for Social Good) (BPAGALAK)
Keywords
Where Local Digital is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Local Digital business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Government Grant Funding: Local Digital is a team within MHCLG funded by the UK government. The program provides grant funding to councils through the Local Digital Fund for digital transformation projects. Funding rounds have included over £16 million provided to 61 council-led projects since 2018.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Local Digital product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Local Digital is a government team within the UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that funds, supports, and coordinates digital and cyber transformation across local councils in England. It provides grant funding (the Local Digital Fund), cyber security frameworks and remediation support (CAF for Local Government, Cyber Support Programme), data and API standards, training and learning resources, and transformation toolkits (Future Councils Playbook) for local authorities. The programme's outputs include reusable open-source digital tools and data standards built collaboratively with councils.
Product overview
Local Digital is a team within the UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that provides digital and cyber support to local government. The portfolio includes the Local Digital Fund (providing over £16 million to 61 council-led projects), the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) for local government, the Future Councils Programme with its playbook of transformation tools, the Local Digital Declaration (with 300+ signatories), Data and API Standards programme, and Learning Resources covering Agile, user research, service design, and content design. Notable funded project outputs include the Open Referral UK data standard, Family Context Tool for children's services, Housing Repairs Service (open-source), Quality Data for Children in Care Tool, Back Office Planning System (BOPS), Revs and Bens open-source revenue and benefits system, and Digital Inclusion Toolkit.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Local Digital Declaration: A declaration that over 300 local authorities and supporting organisations have committed to improving local public services.
- Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) for Local Government
- Local Digital Fund
- Future Councils
Products and services
- Local Digital Fund
- Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) for Local Government
- Cyber Support Programme
- Future Councils Programme
- Future Councils Playbook
- Local Digital Declaration
- Data and API Standards Programme
- Open Referral UK Data Standard
- Housing Repairs Service
- Back Office Planning System (BOPS)
- Family Context Tool
- Quality Data for Children in Care Tool
- Revs and Bens
- Digital Inclusion Toolkit
- Learning Resources
Quantifiable outcome
- 61 council-led projects funded with over £16 million
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Local Digital
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Local Digital technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration10 records
AI capability4 records
Feature4 records
Local Digital partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Teignbridge District CouncilcoreLead council for Revs and Bens project exploring open source revenue and benefits systems, working with Sedgemoor's in-house system.
- National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)coreLocal Digital adapted NCSC's Cyber Assessment Framework for use in local government to assess and improve council cyber resilience.
- Lincoln City CouncilcoreLead council for Housing Repairs Service beta project building a new application form for social housing residents to report repairs and developing a common API for appointment scheduling software.
- MadeTechcoreTechnology supplier engaged for Housing Repairs Service beta development, building the user interface and integrating with scheduling systems.
- Wigan CouncilcoreLead council for Quality Data for Children in Care beta project building error checking and validation tools for children's services data.
- Data to InsightcoreTechnical delivery partner for Quality Data for Children in Care project, developing Python-based error coding tools and online learning hub.
- Leeds City CouncilcoreLead council for Digital Inclusion Toolkit project tackling digital capability challenges in communities, with partners including Birmingham City Council and Dorset Council.
- Adur & Worthing CouncilscoreLead council partner for Open Referral UK beta project defining data standards for community services directories, later endorsed by UK Government Data Standards Authority.
- Essex County CouncilcorePartner in Open Referral UK beta project working on data standard for community services.
- SnookcoreDesign and delivery partner for Open Referral UK beta project, ran prioritisation sessions and developed website and tools.
- Stockport Metropolitan Borough CouncilcoreLead council partner for Family Context in Children's Services project. Collaborated on discovery, alpha and beta phases to develop a tool giving frontline workers access to information about services engaged with a child's family.
- Leeds City CouncilcorePartner in Family Context in Children's Services project, contributing to user research and development of the tool for children's social care services.
- Oxford City CouncilcoreLead council for Chatbots and AI discovery project exploring common, open source platform for local government chatbot/AI solutions across 13 collaborating councils.
- London Borough of SouthwarkcoreLead council for Back Office Planning System (BOPS) project exploring solutions for back office planning system across multiple councils.
- Government Digital Service (GDS)corePartner in various projects including Income Management System and Revs and Bens, exploring GOV.UK Pay integration for local government payments.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Local Digital competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- UKAuthority: A media and events organisation focused on UK public sector digital transformation, hosting 'UKAuthority Live' events where Local Digital presents. It is an adjacent ecosystem player that amplifies Local Digital's message and convenes the local government digital community.
- iNetwork: A UK membership network for public sector innovation that has awarded Local Digital's Open Community project (iNetwork Innovation Awards). It is a peer ecosystem player that supports local government digital transformation and capability building.
Emerging players
- MadeTech: A UK GovTech consultancy that has been an implementation partner for Local Digital-funded projects (e.g., Housing Repairs Service). They build open-source digital services for local government, overlapping with Local Digital's funded project outputs in housing, planning, and revenue systems.
- Snook: A service design and delivery consultancy that has been a Local Digital implementation partner (Open Referral UK beta). They overlap with Local Digital's human-centred design and standards work, and compete for council digital transformation budgets.
Direct peers
- Government Digital Service (GDS): GDS is the UK central government unit for digital transformation, operating inside the Cabinet Office. It is the most direct peer to Local Digital — both are government digital service teams that set standards, fund projects, and provide expertise across public sector digital delivery, with GDS operating at the central-government level and Local Digital focused on local government.
- Digital Planning (within MHCLG): Digital Planning is Local Digital's counterpart team within MHCLG, focused on the digital land and proptech space. It shares the same parent department, mandate structure, and council-engagement model, working on parallel digital transformation themes for local government.
Regional players
- Welsh Government Digital: The Welsh Government's digital function supporting Welsh local authorities. Like Local Digital, it provides standards, funding, and capability support to councils, but operates in a devolved context with a smaller council base.
- Scottish Government Digital Directorate: Scotland's equivalent digital transformation function for its 32 councils. Comparable in mission (council digital support) and funding model (government budget), but operating under a different devolved administration and serving a separate geographic market.
Broad incumbents
- NHS England Digital: The digital function for NHS England, which provides digital standards, infrastructure, and transformation support across the health sector. It is a comparable internal government digital unit serving a different sector vertical with similar mandates around standards, cyber resilience, and shared services.
- National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC): The UK's national cyber authority and the source of the Cyber Assessment Framework that Local Digital has adapted for local government. NCSC is a strategic partnership peer — it sets the upstream standards and works jointly with Local Digital on cyber resilience for the public sector.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Local Digital social profiles
Digital presenceLocal Digital compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Local Digital financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Local Digital leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Local Digital funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Local Digital M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments1 record
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Local Digital
What does Local Digital do?
Local Digital is a government team within the UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that funds, supports, and coordinates digital and cyber transformation across local councils in England. It provides grant funding (the Local Digital Fund), cyber security frameworks and remediation support (CAF for Local Government, Cyber Support Programme), data and API standards, training and learning resources, and transformation toolkits (Future Councils Playbook) for local authorities. The programme's outputs include reusable open-source digital tools and data standards built collaboratively with councils.
Is Local Digital a public or private company?
Local Digital is a public company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was Local Digital founded?
Local Digital was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Local Digital based?
Local Digital is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Local Digital make money?
One revenue line is on record: government Grant Funding.
Who are Local Digital's main competitors?
Others on record are UKAuthority and iNetwork. Emerging players are MadeTech and Snook. Direct peers are Government Digital Service (GDS) and Digital Planning (within MHCLG). Regional players are Welsh Government Digital and Scottish Government Digital Directorate. Broad incumbents are NHS England Digital and National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
Does Local Digital have an API?
No public API is recorded for Local Digital.
What industry is Local Digital in?
Local Digital's product category is Government Digital Transformation Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIAAAE, Government Digital Service & eGovernment (Service Delivery, IDs, Portals), with a secondary code of BPADAEAL, Digital Development & ICT4D / GovTech Technical Assistance. Its NAICS code is 9251 and its SIC code is 7370.