Lancashire County Council has deployed Microsoft generative AI tools across its social care services to reduce administrative workload and increase direct contact time between practitioners and residents.
The council serves more than 1.3 million people across adult services, children services and special educational needs. Social workers and support staff can now record visit notes using Microsoft Teams or Facilitator, which Microsoft 365 Copilot converts into structured case documentation.
According to Lancashire County Council, the implementation could save at least 225,000 hours annually across the organisation. Staff review all AI-generated output before finalising decisions, ensuring professional oversight remains central to the process.
Brett Aspden, Mental Health Social Care Lead at Lancashire County Council, says: “Being able to engage with the people we support is a key facet of social care.
“Paperwork and admin have always created barriers to how much time we can spend doing that. AI has supported me and our teams to have more time to focus on people.”