UK names Barnsley as first Tech Town to see whether AI can fix... well, anything
- Reference: 1770121505
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/02/03/barnsley_ai_town/
- Source link:
According to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT), Barnsley will blaze a trail for the rest of the UK to follow – all in the name of advancing the British government's reliance on AI to improve productivity and make the UK great again (MUKGA).
British government caves on datacenter approval after legal challenge [1]READ MORE
Local residents could see improved public services, better support in local schools, faster access to NHS care and new opportunities for jobs and skills, DSIT says. Needless to say, the word "could" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: "If we are going to get AI to work for Britain, we need Britons and British public services that can work with AI. That is why Barnsley's ambitions are crucial, because if we can show that AI helps young people learn, supports local businesses to be more productive, and improves public services, then we can show what's possible for the whole country."
The scheme is to include free AI and digital training for the town's residents, through Barnsley College and the South Yorkshire Institute of Technology.
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It will also involve testing educational technology tools in schools and Barnsley College, to gather evidence of the impact on pupils' learning and if it can reduce teacher workloads.
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The existing [5]Seam Digital Campus near the town center is being expanded to offer small businesses support when adopting new technology and scaling up.
Barnsley Council will receive an initial £500,000 ($683,000) in seed funding as part of the program.
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Companies that have signed up to the scheme include Microsoft and Cisco, each – we're told – with a particular focus on AI skills in adult education and SME support.
Confirmation of the companies involved in testing AI tools in health services is expected some time in the not-too-distant future.
However, while the government talks up new opportunities for jobs, Microsoft [7]slashed 15,000 staff by the middle of last year, citing AI as one of the reasons. And the company's AI tools are so successful that [8]just 3.3 percent of Microsoft 365 and Office 365 users have opted to upgrade to a paid version of Copilot Chat.
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The UK government itself found [10]no discernible gain in productivity from a three-month trial of Microsoft's M365 Copilot, as reported last year.
Cisco also [11]ditched 7 percent of its global workforce – about 6,000 employees – as part of a restructure that saw a shift towards AI. Meanwhile, a study released last year claimed that a [12]fifth of jobs could disappear at businesses that implement AI.
The Register asked DSIT what assurances it could give that rolling out AI across services in Barnsley would not lead to a loss of jobs rather than new opportunities, but it declined to directly answer that question.
Georgina O'Toole, chief analyst at TechMarketView, commented: "The scope covers GP triage tools, school AI assistants, and business support. But what's missing is more telling. There's mention of digital infrastructure – connectivity and cybersecurity – but nothing about data foundations. No discussion of data quality, integration, or governance frameworks. No talk of an ethics framework for AI use in healthcare or education. Those foundations are crucial. Without them, you're building on shaky ground."
Barnsley Council Leader Sir Stephen Houghton CBE said in a statement: "One of the key missions in our Inclusive Economic Growth Strategy is for Barnsley to become the UK's leading digital town."
Brits to help foot power bill for datacenters under government AI plans [13]READ MORE
"This is one of the most important investments in Barnsley in our history and will help secure our long-term economic future."
[14]Oracle silent over user complaints about OCI London 'wobble' last week
[15]GOV.UK to unleash AI chatbot on confused citizens
[16]UK prepared to throw planning rules out the window for massive datacenters
[17]UK unveils plans to mainline AI into the veins of the nation
The town no longer mines coal – the last sites were closed in the early 1990s. The fossil fuel might have helped to power the datacenters the UK government wants to pepper the country with – not that coal would help with net zero emissions. AI server farms famously consume a lot of energy and at present the Brit government wants to build datacenters where power exists. That might not aid the facilities under construction in London.
Last week, DSIT unveiled a new [18]AI Growth Zone in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, centered around a datacenter campus in Airdrie owned by operator DataVita. The government promised this would bring more than 3,400 jobs over the course of the coming years, although the company itself admitted the majority of these would be in constructing the site rather than running it afterwards.
TechMarketView's O'Toole said of the Barnsley project: "An 18-month timeline to transform healthcare, education, and business support risks spreading resources too thin to deliver real impact in any of them. It also suggests a technology overlay rather than the process transformation required for genuine change.
"There's also the trust problem. Public sector organizations have been burned by technology pilots before, investing substantial time, having their day-to-day disrupted, but seeing minimal benefit. Without that trust, and without evidence that this time will be different, 'we don't have the bandwidth' often means 'we don't believe the ROI is worth the effort.'
"The real draw here is probably pro bono support from US tech giants in a budget-constrained local government environment. The problem is that it is unlikely to solve the fundamental capacity problems within the public sector organizations themselves. As an example, implementing AI triage in a GP practice requires mapping existing workflows, integrating with patient management systems, staff training, and sustained monitoring. In other words, a substantial – and resource-heavy – ask from organizations that are already overstretched. If NHS Trusts, schools, and GP practices can't commit that bandwidth, much of the 'transformation' will stall regardless of the tech.
"If Barnsley fails to deliver measurable improvements, it won't just prevent national rollout; it could make other regions more cynical about investing at all. The absence of clear success metrics compounds the risk. For any town where residents are crying out for their council to get back to basics – to rid the roads of potholes or have the bins collected on time – the question should be whether heralding Barnsley as a 'Tech Town' is a distraction rather than a solution."
Hear, hear. Well said, TechMarketView. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/23/uk_gov_dc/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aYIptRlWRpXa-EiSsOk4SgAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aYIptRlWRpXa-EiSsOk4SgAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aYIptRlWRpXa-EiSsOk4SgAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://invest.southyorkshire-ca.gov.uk/portfolio/digital-campus/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aYIptRlWRpXa-EiSsOk4SgAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/25/microsoft_ceo_job_cuts/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/02/microsoft_ai_spend_copilot/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aYIptRlWRpXa-EiSsOk4SgAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/m365_copilot_uk_government/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/15/cisco_cuts_workforce/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/27/ai_employee_overcapacity_report/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/18/uk_ai_growth_zones/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/28/oci_access_complaints/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/19/govuk_chatbot/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/13/uk_datacenter_planning_rules/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/13/uk_government_ai_plans/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/12/uk_gov_ai_datacenters/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
MUKA
MUKGA -> MUKUP -> MUKA
Make UK Angry
How the conversation went...
"Does tha want a load o' money lad?"
"Ai, Ta"
Yea - just chuck that 1/2 million down that toilet there thanks
It’s been some years since I visited Barnsley but “AI” is NOT any answer to any problem they may have there. What Barnsley (like 99% of the north of England) needs is opportunity and hope for the kids, some genuine industry that actually produces stuff that’s worth something, getting stuff working again, etc etc etc. I have absolutely no idea where I would start on such a task but I’m damn sure it’s not with some ridiculous “AI” project that NOBODY will ever see any benefit from. Apart from the tech companies peddling it
What the hell is an LLM going to do to regenerate anything? It’s a £500k joke. You may as well throw rainbow coloured unicorn shit at the problem
FFS
Re: Yea - just chuck that 1/2 million down that toilet there thanks
Maybe things aren't quite a bad as you think. I went there last year. There were huge car parks near the centre and still a lot of driving round to find a spare slot. Also, being right next to a junction on the M1 the surrounding area has a lot of business parks. Maybe too many on greenfield sites down towards Hoyland.
Re: Yea - just chuck that 1/2 million down that toilet there thanks
Car parks are a terrible proxy for economic health. In much of the UK it’s cheaper and more practical to drive than to use public transport, so full car parks mostly tell you people had no alternative.
They also only reflect the fraction of the population that can afford to be there at all. The people priced out, commuting elsewhere, or simply disengaged never show up in that snapshot.
And those business parks by the M1 exist largely because firms have been priced out of anything closer to home. Cheap land on greenfield sites pushes activity away from towns, hollowing them out further. Warehouses and back offices do not regenerate local economies, no matter how busy the car park looks.
Re: Yea - just chuck that 1/2 million down that toilet there thanks
It's impossible to find parking in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. but the job growth here is stagnant. You still see quite a lot of foot traffic, but if I got laid off tomorrow I'd be fighting for a position as a bagger at the local Fred Meyer. With Intel and Nike being the major employers here and them both trying to shed workers like a molting snake, things are going to get more dire in the next few years.
Re: Yea - just chuck that 1/2 million down that toilet there thanks
This is standard UK industrial policy theatre. When ministers say “support for business”, they mean funding slide decks, workshops, and vaguely academic “AI initiatives” that never touch a factory floor or a payroll.
There is effectively zero help for businesses that actually make things. No support for manufacturers, hardware startups, engineers, or anyone who has to buy machines, stock parts, hire skilled labour, or ship physical goods. Instead you get endless R&D cosplay where consultants and arts-adjacent “innovators” produce blue-sky PDFs, pocket the grant, and line up for the next round.
The government seems convinced you can conjure an economy from a coffee shop with a five-year-old laptop and a buzzword subscription. You cannot. Regeneration comes from people building, fixing, and producing things that someone is willing to pay for. An LLM does none of that.
According to the Barnsley Chronicle...
..."pothole repairs have cost Barnsley Council more than £2m to repair since 2023, with 50,000 reports being submitted in the time".
I wonder what the locals will consider the priority.
Re: According to the Barnsley Chronicle...
splitting up that investment and cutting every local resident a check would do a lot more to stimulate the local economy than AI integration
"Needless to say, the word "could" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here."
More like heavy lying. AI is not capable of producing any of the suggested results. They're not what AI is for even in the most optimistic of scenarios.
Follow the money on this one. Five'll get you ten the person who suggested this project is taking bungs from the AI peddlers. And even if they're not, it would be good to know who is responsible so they can be removed from office at the earliest opportunity.
Re: "Needless to say, the word "could" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here."
>person is taking bungs
You can't say that! You're stealing elsergiovolador's catch phrase saying that.
>even if they're not, it would be good to know who is responsible
Well that'll be Starmer. He's the idiot obsessed with AI and pushing it into everything. Barnsley's just the latest example of trickle down from him.
Re: "Needless to say, the word "could" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here."
"Well that'll Starmer. He's the idiot obsessed with AI and pushing it into everything."
He doesn't have a monopoly on it. Just about everyone in politics is doing it. FOMO plus a strong helping of "if you don't understand it it must be magic and we must have magic".
Council Coprolite
Companies that have signed up to the scheme include Microsoft and Cisco, each – we're told – with a particular focus on AI skills in adult education and SME support.
So basically MS have run out of orifices in Windows to stuff Coprolite, and so they're now resorting to attacking local councils with it?
Still, all those former coal mines in the area offer a very good place to bury it somewhat more permanently.
Re: Council Coprolite
Oh yes - the usual suspects/leaches/scum (delete as you see fit) will be pushing for this
Because if/when it doesn't work, what does it matter? It's only Barnsley.
Looks like some people don’t get your sarcasm. Oh well
No. There's always a hint of ambivalence. We know it's all too easy to come out with statements like that and then say "only joking".
I acknowledge your point but being someone who was dragged up not far from Barnsley, I get the sentiment all too clearly - usually directed at a government based in London
Barnsley... the country's first "Tech Town"
The jokes write themselves.
When you get chatgpt to do it for you
"Barnsley will blaze a trail"
Yeah, I imagine a blaze of some sort will probably feature heavily at some point in the ongoing story.
I does'na know wha' happn'd officer. It just went on fire!
Re: "Barnsley will blaze a trail"
I think person who came up with this was blazing something...
Bad luck, Barnsley.
Someone had to draw the short straw as crash test dummies. Are they going to go the whole hog and rename it bAIrnsley? Note the edgy use of a lower case 'b'. You normally have to pay designers for that sort of thing.
Maybe they can twin with Xinjiang.
Try to foist AI on me, my reply would begin with 'piss' and end with 'off'.
Re: “piss”
Not my first word. Just saying.
Do we really want an AI triaging calls in a GP surgery? It's hard enough to get past the bloody receptionist, FFS.
hard enough to get past the bloody receptionist
That indicates a degree of success if you persevere - AI will close those loopholes thereby saving £££ from the local NHS budget and proving it is value for money...
TykeAI
Hear all, see all, say nowt gibberish
Re: TykeAI
Fat all, sup all, pay nowt;
And if tha ever does owt for nowt, allus do it for thisen.
I imagine they are at least trying for the "pay nowt"...
Poor old Scunthorpe
Imagine the Ain't Intelligent AI jokes that could've come from placing it there! Epic fail by Stammer & Co yet again...
More of the same
Microsoft and Cisco, just them getting out of bed and making a visit has gone through the £500k right there.
Unless they're involved as a loss leader for getting more punters hooked.
Re: More of the same
Microsoft and Cisco are not visiting Barnsley
Their involvement involved sending an email without laughing
Morons
Companies that have signed up to the scheme include Microsoft and Cisco, each – we're told – with a particular focus on AI skills in adult education and SME support.
Yes, shovel tax payer money to foreign tax shy corporations of questionable morals. We are being government by utter morons and crooks.
Any business owner who tried to use such schemes will tell you these are useless and borderline scams.
Government basically pays money to have good PR among people who never run a business to let them think support is available and government is doing something.
Reality is government is doing f*ck all apart from sending your money to usual suspects and then wheeling out Reeves to raise taxes if they run out of money again.
Re: Morons
"..raise taxes if they run out of money.."
You miss-spelled "when"
Ah, the fragrant Liz Kendall. Degree in History from Cambridge and generally working in the background of politics before becoming a full time politician in 2010. Allegedly she has had several "proper" jobs other than being being an MP, particularly within think-tanks, health charities, and government advisory positions.
Perfectly suited to a role as Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.
I despair of our politicians with knowledge of next to nothing relevant but an opinion on everything.
I did hear she had made an effort to make her academic achievements more useful by getting her position rebranded as Secretary of State for Science, History, Innovation and Technology.
The nine most terrifying words in the English language
[1]Ronald Reagan : “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.”
[1] https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/presidents-news-conference-23
Re: The nine most terrifying words in the English language
Unsurprising when the person saying that sentence was Ronnie. I'd be terrified too.
When Wilson talked about the white heat of technology, he didn't mean set fire to the planet with "AI" farms.
Wilson then went on and set up the Ministry of Technology to enact his vision which 60 years later and after multiple morphings and rebrandings is today's Department for Science Innovation & Technology.
First Minister appointed was Frank Cousins - a union man.
Latest is Liz Kendall - a career politician.
Neither were/are up to the job, same as almost everyone inbetween.
Sooner we change how we appoint Ministers the better.
Hope they bring a translator with them.
And this is coming from a (North) Yorkshireman.
Does tha not spek taike?
Hope they bring a trainslator with them.
And that's coming from a (North) Yorkshireman...
The council conversation in Barnsley...
...must have been legendary.
Ayup!
Ayup!
AI?
Oh ey...AI?
Eee Aye! AI!
Aye! alright AI!
'Appen.
'Appen!
"make the UK great again (MUKGA)"
More likely MUKUP (Make UK Unbelievably Poor).