Why NALC selected ReadyIntelligence to deliver trusted AI for local councils
The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has selected ReadyIntelligence to deliver trusted AI for parish and town councils as part of its ongoing work to support members with high-quality advice, guidance and best practice.
NALC supports parish and town councils across England, working with both councillors and council officers. Over the past year, the organisation has focused on strengthening its digital foundations with a new ReadyMembership platform, putting it in a strong position to explore the responsible use of AI.
As artificial intelligence tools have become more widely used across the sector, NALC recognised that many members were already experimenting with them, often without confidence in the reliability or authority of the information being returned.
“Our members are already using AI tools, but often without reliable source information,” said Lisa Stockdale, Data and Systems Manager at NALC. “That creates a real risk, both in terms of accuracy and how sector-specific information is being used.”
Security and control were therefore central to NALC’s decision. The organisation was conscious of the risk of its guidance being uploaded into third-party AI tools outside its control, and wanted an approach that would protect its intellectual property while allowing AI to work directly with its own data and knowledge base.
ReadyIntelligence was selected because it enables AI to be securely connected to NALC’s approved resources, giving the organisation full control over what information is used and what users can see. This ensures responses are grounded solely in authoritative guidance, rather than drawing on open or unverified sources.
Flexibility was also important. ReadyIntelligence gives NALC a choice of language models and the ability to adapt how AI is used over time as needs grow or change, while fitting cleanly into NALC’s existing digital environment.
Another key requirement was ensuring that AI would be free to access as part of membership. Early discussions within NALC’s AI working group highlighted the importance of making AI a shared benefit for members, rather than a paid add-on.
We wanted this to be an added but core benefit of membership. Members don’t always know the exact terminology they need when searching, so being able to ask a natural question and still be directed to the right source material is incredibly valuable.
NALC’s guidance library includes legal advice notes, financial guidance, Good Councillors Guides and Local Councils Explained, a comprehensive resource covering how local councils operate and understand their procedural responsibilities. Much of this content is highly specialised and not available elsewhere.
Because of the specialist nature of this guidance, protecting NALC’s intellectual property was also an important consideration. The organisation was keen to avoid its content being used or uploaded into third-party AI tools beyond its control, while still enabling members to benefit from AI in a safe and appropriate way.
By using ReadyIntelligence, members can ask natural-language questions and receive clear answers, alongside links back to the original source information. This helps councils understand where answers come from and explore topics in more depth, rather than treating AI responses as a black box.
The implementation has completed a trial phase with a small group of experienced members, with a focus on testing accuracy, usability and relevance. Feedback on NORA - NALC Online Resource Assistant - has been positive and will inform how the tool develops and how AI is used more widely across NALC’s services.
Looking ahead, NALC sees AI as part of a longer-term journey. By building on strong data and knowledge foundations, the organisation aims to improve access to guidance, gain better insight into member needs, and support councils of all sizes to make informed decisions with confidence.
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