Swindon Borough Council modernises its Revenues and Benefits
Overview
Swindon Borough Council’s Revenues and Benefits teams deliver essential services to over 102,000 properties. It faced pressures shared by many local authorities – ageing and inefficient systems, tight budgets, increasing service costs, and rising expectations for digital services. They needed a safe, low-risk route to modernise their Revenues and Benefits services without disrupting business-as-usual operations.
The challenge
With ageing technology and processes, the council needed a partner capable of transforming its services, improving customer access, and providing digital options. They needed to find efficiency savings and drive significant improvements to their Revenues and Benefits performance to help ease some of their budgetary pressures.
As a unitary authority, Swindon Council had areas across the borough with high levels of deprivation. Therefore, they needed to support vulnerable residents, making sure that those most financially at risk are better protected and receive the appropriate support from the council.
Key challenges included:
- Legacy systems and inefficient processes
- Poor data quality, risking billing accuracy
- A three-year Business Rates inspections backlog
- Resource gaps – only 35% of the original team transferred post-transition
- Increased demand for digital self-service
Summary
Swindon Borough Council partnered with Liberata to migrate its Revenues and Benefits service from ageing, inefficient systems to a modern, fit-for-purpose Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model.
The result: a stable migration delivered on time, with digital self-service from day one, faster processing times, and a 34% reduction in service costs within the first year.
Outcomes at a glance
- Service cost reduction – 34% from year one
- New claims processing – 8.5 days
- Council Tax collection – 96% in first year
- Housing benefit overpayments
recovered – 98% (£1.7m)
The solution
We transitioned Swindon Council’s Revenues and Benefits service to a modern SaaS platform, delivering change without disruption.
Our approach started by establishing a joint programme board for decision-making and clear performance governance. A parallel change model maintained business-as-usual services throughout the project.
We used a data-first, digital-by-default framework with daily accuracy checks and clear ownership to resolve issues quickly. We developed step-by-step playbooks for every process to ensure control, accuracy, and speed.
Key actions:
- Staged data migration with reconciliation at each step to protect data accuracy before live billing
- Cleansing and validation of all critical datasets
- Removal of service backlogs, including three years of Business Rates inspections, and establishing a monthly assessment process
- Expansion of digital self-service channels through CloudTools and Citizen Access (the council’s resident portal) to give residents 24/7 access for routine tasks, reducing calls to the customer services team
- Automation of repetitive processes, including Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for Universal Credit notifications, record updates, recalculations, and automatic confirmations
- Embedding risk-based verification to focus checks where risk is high, reducing friction for low-risk claims
- Implementing queue management and guided bots in customer services to route residents efficiently and free up advisers for complex cases
Real outcomes with real-world benefits
Business continuity was fully maintained throughout the migration. The new service now operates on a stable, automated, and data-led SaaS platform with measurable results across speed, efficiency, and resident experience.
Performance outcomes:
- Fast assessments: new claims processed in 8.5 days (vs. 20 days national average)
- Swift claim updates: changes in circumstance processed in 1.75 days (vs. 7 days national average)
- Prompt payments: 5% of new claims paid within 14 days
- Improved collections: despite the national cost-of-living crisis
- Service efficiency: 34% service cost saving from the first year
- Optimised automation: 75% of benefits transactions automated, and 99+% of Universal Credit notifications handled by RPA
- Additional recovery: 98% of housing benefit overpayments recovered (£1.7m total)
- Modern architecture: Automation-ready foundation with reusable RPA components and risk-based verification
Better for residents
Residents now receive better services, faster decisions, clearer communications, and simpler access.
Digital self-service: 24/7 access through Citizen Access
Efficient calling: Queue management and guided bots triage, reducing handoffs and delays
Timely assessments: Faster payments when they matter most, with the average processing time under nine days
Targeted help: £346.6k (99.1%) of Discretionary Housing Payments delivered to households in need
Active support: The First Steps programme helps residents to improve their financial wellbeing
Better for the council
Swindon’s new operating model is data-driven, automated, and sustainable.
Digital by default: 90%+ of revenues work now in a digitally structured format
Automation at scale: 75% of benefits processing transactions are automated, and 99%+ of Universal Credit notifications are handled by RPA
Embedded governance: Weekly performance routines, clear decision ownership, and cross-trained teams
Reduced cost and risk: Lower cost-to-serve, stronger controls, and audit-ready assurance
Service quality: Compliant Customer Services team managed more complex calls, supported by queue‑management logic and digital assistants
Why Swindon Borough Council chose Liberata
The council needed a partner who would work with them and share their vision for transformation. Their service migration was safely managed, and they modernised their services without interruption. We rebuilt their service capabilities, provided proven governance and transformation expertise, and focused on a resident-first ethos.
This resulted in visible improvements, delivered value for money and a future-facing Revenues and Benefits service.
“Liberata has created a seamless integration with technology to digitally transform the Benefits service whilst protecting local jobs. The joint strategy has helped to deliver innovative solutions that have exceeded expectations, whilst providing savings to the authority. This surge in digital engagement has enabled improvements in benefits speed of processing.”
Andy Stevens, Swindon Council’s Head of Revenues and Benefits (now retired)
Guaranteed outcomes for complex migrations
The Swindon Borough Council migration delivered more than system modernisation – it transformed how the service operates. With automation, governance, and data-driven control now embedded, Swindon Borough Council has a stable foundation for continued savings, stronger performance, and improved resident outcomes.
The project’s success was recognised nationally, with the project receiving Highly Commended in the Benefits Team of the Year (Unitary) category at the IRRV Performance Awards 2025.
Whatever your service transformation needs, Liberata delivers
Whether you’re looking to modernise your current Revenues and Benefits services or getting ready for the Local Government Reorganisation, we can help you transform your business processes and safely migrate you to your chosen platform.
Complete the form with your details, and one of our team will be in touch.
