The government has announced plans to leverage technology and AI tools to streamline public services, improve data sharing and reduce costs.

A new package of AI tools - known as Humphrey - will be made available to civil servants in an attempt to modernise tech and deliver better public services.

The plans come following the publication of a review that shows that the country relies on a poor system, with outdated methods of communication. For example, HMRC takes 100,000 calls a day and DVLA processes 45,000 letters.

The technology secretary has launched his department as the digital centre of government to overhaul digital services and target £45 billion in productivity savings every year.

The new plans include scrapping the need for people to register a death in person and removing the need to post an advert in the local paper before getting a license to drive a lorry.

There will also be changes to data sharing, which could help central government departments, like HMRC and the Department for Business and Trade, share data with each other and local councils more seamlessly to crack down on fraud.

A new team will be housed in the Department for Science, Technology and Innovation (DSIT) to join up public services and there will be training programmes to help civil service technologists become AI engineers.

Science secretary Peter Kyle said: "Sluggish technology has hampered our public services for too long, and it’s costing us all a fortune in time and money.

"Not to mention the headaches and stresses we’re left with after being put on hold or forced to take a trip to fill out a form.

"My department will put AI to work, speeding up our ability to deliver our Plan for Change, improve lives and drive growth.

"We will use technology to bear down hard to the nonsensical approach the public sector takes to sharing information and working together to help the people it serves.

"We will also end delays businesses face when they are applying for licenses or permits, when they just want to get on with the task in hand – growth. This is just the start."

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said: "Outdated technology is holding us back. Sluggish manual processes mean people don’t get the help they need quickly enough.

"That’s why we want to use the latest AI technologies to bring Jobcentres into the 21st Century, giving our brilliant staff the tools they need to offer more personalised services to jobseekers."

"But this is just one example of how AI can make our work more effective. We are committed to going further to make our services faster, fairer, and more accessible for the people who rely on us every day."

Humphrey, the package of AI tools, has been built by a team of expert AI developers from DSIT.

One of the tools is known as 'Consult'. It analyses the thousands of responses any government consultation might receive in hours, before presenting policy makers and experts with interactive dashboards to explore what the public are saying directly.

At the moment this process is outsourced to consultants and analysts, taking months and costing a lot of money.

Other tools include Parlex, which will help policymakers search search through and analyse decades of debate from the Houses of Parliament; Minute, a secure AI transcription service for meetings, producing customisable summaries in the formats that public servants need; and Redbox: a generative AI tool designed specifically to help civil servants with day-to-day tasks, like summarising policy and preparing briefings.

Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said: "We are bringing our analogue NHS into the digital age. Our Plan for Change will rebuild our NHS, put patients in control of their own healthcare and arm staff with the latest groundbreaking technology, ending the needless bureaucracy faced by patients up and down the country.

"We’ve already set out plans to transform the NHS App so patients can choose providers and book appointments, and we’re harnessing artificial intelligence to deliver faster and smarter care across the country.

"By embracing technological advancements, we can both make substantial savings for the taxpayer and build a health service fit for the 21st Century."