Research by Appian and Coforge reveals that UK’s 6.12m public sector staff lose, on average, five hours a week each to tedious, unnecessary ways of working
A startling 94% of the 1,000 UK public sector workers who took part in the 2025 UK Public Sector Efficiency Survey conducted by Appian and Coforge say that process inefficiencies hamper them in delivering services.
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On average, they lost five hours a week to these processes – which, multiplied by 6.12m public sector staff across the country – equates to 30.6m hours.
According to the report, three obstacles in particular hamper efficient delivery of service: manual and repetitive tasks, the need to access multiple legacy systems to view or enter the same information, and a lack of training and support.
- Read the full 2025 UK Public Sector Efficiency Survey
Some 91% of respondents said that their organisation struggled to adapt to new, improved processes, not least in trying to maintain productivity amid changes to service demands, citizen needs and government policies.
Despite this, the survey demonstrates the benefits of technology in addressing such matters. Among those respondents who use workflow or process automation tools, 95% agreed had seen direct benefits.
Respondents also expressed faith in new forms of technology being able to improve things. Some 71% of those in back-office IT roles were confident in the potential of AI to improve levels of efficiency in their organisation. That confidence dropped to 65% among those in citizen-facing services and 57% among those in back-office business.
Peter Corpe, Industry Leader, UK Public Sector at Appian, says: ‘Every public service organisation is built on processes. When those processes improve, so do the services delivered to citizens. With millions of hours at stake, automating low-value admin tasks and resolving process inefficiencies offers the public sector a chance to work more efficiently. This means more time for the strategic and value-driven activities that directly impact citizen outcomes.
‘The government is clear on its mission to automate processes in the public sector. AI adoption in the public sector is no longer a question of if but when.’
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