The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Spring Statement has received a mixed response from the Channel.
Rachel Reeves, who delivered the Spring Statement to MPs in the House of Comms today, pledged £3.25 billion to public service reform, putting AI and technology at the heart of government efforts to boost productivity, modernise operations and support long-term economic growth.
Lee Myall, CEO of Neos Networks welcomed government's commitment to developing the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor, saying it was a vital step in cementing the UK’s position as a global innovation leader. He said that given the region is home to world-class research, technology and life sciences, in addition to existing and new data centre developments, it was encouraging to see government commit to measures that will help accelerate its potential.
But Myall warned that to unlock the full value of these investments, the region must be supported by resilient, high-capacity connectivity. He said the region hadn’t seen significant new core network infrastructure deployed for some time and there was a clear need for next-generation networks that provide the necessary capacity to meet future demands.
"To realise the ambition for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, there will need to be new network infrastructure projects to support this growth, connecting the UK’s new digital hubs,” said Myall. “The government needs to recognise the criticality of robust and scalable connectivity in shaping the UK’s digital future and make every effort to foster competition and speed up deployment."
Evolve’s CEO Alan Stephenson-Brown added that the Spring Statement had failed to recognise the importance of connectivity infrastructure in supporting growth for the UK's digital economy.
"Despite the Chancellor’s promises made in October to boost digital infrastructure and support the growth of the digital and technology sectors, it still remains to be seen if the government will deliver on these commitments," he said, referring to the Autumn budget, where Reeves committed more than £500 million to support ongoing projects such as Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network.
"This is desperately needed to bridge the digital divide and support businesses in underserved areas. For Evolve, as a managed network solutions provider, the pressure to deliver reliable, scalable connectivity is even higher now.
"As digital transformation continues across industries, securing high-performance networks has become essential. It’s clear to us that sustained investment in connectivity infrastructure is crucial for driving productivity and supporting growth in our increasingly digital economy, and would have liked to see this recognised in the Spring statement."
Reeves also announced that about 10,000 civil service jobs are expected to go, including staff working in HR, policy advice, communications and office management.
But Jamie Snaddon, EMEA managing director at 8x8, said that despite the bad news for civil servants, technology could be used to fill the void.
"Technology is the answer — technology can solve both ends of the civil service problem for a better customer experience and staff user experience - as well as modernising the skillset of the civil servants," said Snaddon. "AI-enabled technology will help streamline back-end operations - eliminating duplication, providing quality insights, and ensuring a more joined-up picture across departments. But those internal gains aren’t just about efficiency; they directly impact the experience citizens have when they try to engage. The real test of any transformation is how it improves people’s lives - and that starts with how they interact with government services."
He added, "Far too many government departments rely on siloed systems for voice calls, email, live chat, and internal messaging. These systems often don’t talk to each other, and worse, don’t provide a unified view of the citizen journey. That leads to frustration on both sides: citizens feel like they’re being bounced around, and staff are constantly playing catch-up. It’s not a time sink, it’s a time dump. Hours that people never get back.
"When integrated into communications platforms, AI can handle many of the routine tasks that currently occupy civil servants’ time—everything from routing calls to answering frequently asked questions. Intelligent virtual assistants can be deployed across voice and chat channels to handle common queries 24/7, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex or sensitive issues. Natural language processing ensures these interactions feel human, not robotic."
But Snaddon added that while AI and technology has clear advantages, it still needs people to run it. This is where the opportunity lies, he said.
"People aren’t being made redundant overnight, so there’s a chance here for every single civil servant to go and train up on AI and learn how to use it and work with it," said Snaddon. "In many cases, people won’t lose their jobs to AI, they’ll lose their jobs to colleagues who know more about using AI."
He added, "This transformation won’t happen overnight, and it won’t be easy. But with the right partners, like 8x8, the UK civil service can turn the challenge of workforce reduction into a catalyst for innovation."