A resident relocates and informs the council. One might assume the matter is thus resolved.

However, housing operates a distinct system, council tax another, and waste services yet a third; consequently, the resident’s new address is often entered two or three times. Each department maintains its own records, and these records seldom align.

Welcome to data silos in local government. It sounds technical, but it isn’t. Disconnected systems drag everything down, wear residents out, and hand leaders figures that nobody fully believes.

The good news? Councils can fix this with the Microsoft Power Platform, and without tearing out the systems they already depend on. Let’s get into how.

Why Data Silos Are Such a Problem for Councils

Nobody sat down and designed these silos on purpose. They just piled up, one system at a time, across decades. Housing bought a platform. Revenues bought another.

Somewhere along the way, a customer portal was bolted on. Each fixed one problem, and between them they created a much bigger one.

And the numbers are genuinely eye-opening. One global study found that only 2% of government leaders could describe their data as fully accessible. 61% said it was partially or completely sold. What follows from that is predictable enough:

  • Residents repeat themselves, because no single system holds the whole picture
  • Staff waste hours rekeying data between systems that won’t talk to each other
  • Duplicate and conflicting records pile up, so nobody trusts the numbers
  • Leaders can’t see across services, which makes planning and resource allocation guesswork   

And none of it is down to the people. Council staff graft. This is a systems integration problem, plain and simple, which happens to be precisely what the Power Platform was built to sort out.

How the Power Platform Breaks Down Silos

So how? The Microsoft Power Platform is a low-code suite that connects systems, automates the busy work, and surfaces data, all without a giant development project sitting behind it. Four parts carry most of the load, and they’re at their best working together.

Power Apps for Unified Front Ends

Here’s the clever bit. You don’t touch the underlying systems. Power Apps lets you build a single, clean interface that pulls data from several of them at once.

So, a caseworker opens a single screen instead of juggling five logins, and the resident’s full history is right there, no matter which system each piece originally came from.

Power Automate for Joined-Up Processes

Silos aren’t only about data sitting still. They’re about data that never travels between departments.

Power Automate fixes that by automatically shunting information from one system to the next, triggering updates, and eliminating the manual rekeying that burns staff hours and quietly sees errors.

Power BI for a Single View of Performance

When data hides in silos, “reporting” means exporting spreadsheets and glueing them together by hand on a Friday afternoon.

Power BI goes straight to the sources and paints a single, live picture. Leaders finally see demand patterns and long-running cases across the whole council, not one department at a time.

Dataverse and Connectors as the Common Foundation

Under the lot sits Microsoft Dataverse, and with the platform’s 275-plus connectors, it gives councils a single, secure data layer.

That’s what lets a shiny new app and a decades-old line-of-business system feed the same view. Unglamorous, but it’s the backbone the whole thing stands on.

A Practical Path, not a Rip and Replace

And here’s what a nervous council most needs to hear. You don’t have to replace anything to begin.

That “rip and replace” dread is exactly what kills so many modernisation projects before they start, and the Power Platform steps around it.

Go phased. Pick one process that genuinely hurts and that everyone understands, address changes, say, or a service request that bounces between departments, or that monthly reporting headache.

Connect the systems it touches, build a small app or flow, and prove the value with something modest. Then widen out with the lessons in hand. Interoperability was never all-or-nothing, and quiet momentum beats a big-bang launch every time.

For councils that want a purpose-built starting point, our LG Intelliware platform brings resident services, staff dashboards and automation together on this foundation, demonstrating what a joined-up council can look like in practice.

Don’t Forget Governance and Security

Once you start integrating systems that hold residents’ personal data, one question looms: how do you keep it safe while you’re tearing down silos?

Councils are right to be cautious here, and doing it properly is the whole game.

A connected platform needs firm rules, who can see what, where data is allowed to travel, and how every bit of it gets audited. Managed Environments and data loss prevention policies cover much of that ground, and we’ve laid out the details in our guide on governing the Power Platform at scale.

As an ISO 27001–certified partner, security and governance are our first design decision on any public-sector job, never a box ticked at the end.

What Councils Actually Gain

Strip away the jargon and what’s left is refreshingly plain.

Residents tell the council once. Staff stop rekeying and get back to helping people. Records finally align with one another. And leaders get a live, trustworthy view across every service, so resource planning stops being guesswork and becomes evidence-based.

With most councils squeezed on both budget and staffing, wringing more from the systems you already own is among the smartest forms of modernisation.

Getting Started

Dismantling years of accumulated silos isn’t a weekend’s work, but with the right approach and partner, it’s very doable. The councils that pull it off start small, prove the value, govern it properly, and grow from there.

That’s the work we do. Our Power Platform services, SharePoint and M365 solutions help councils connect their systems, unify their data and modernise services without the disruption of a full rebuild.

As specialists in local government across the UK, Stallions Solutions understands both the technology and the realities of public-sector delivery.

Our AI Enablement Programme then helps councils build on that clean data foundation with practical, production-ready AI.

Final Thoughts

Data silos are one of the heaviest drags on how councils serve their communities, yet they’re not permanent.

The Power Platform gives local government a practical, affordable way to connect systems, unify data, and deliver a far better experience for staff and residents alike, all without the upheaval of knocking everything down to start over.

If your council is wrestling with disconnected systems, that’s exactly the conversation we enjoy having.

Book a free assessment or claim your free workshop day, and we’ll help you map out where to start, with honest advice, no hard sell.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are data silos in local government?

Data silos are separate, disconnected systems that each hold their own version of information. In councils, this means that housing, revenues, waste, and other services often can’t share data, leading to duplicate records, repeated contact with residents, and poor visibility for leaders.

Can the Power Platform connect to our existing council systems?

Yes. With Dataverse and over 275 connectors, the Power Platform links to most modern and many legacy systems, so you can unify data without replacing what you already run.

Do we need to replace our legacy systems?

Usually not. The Power Platform is designed to connect to and build on top of existing systems, allowing councils to modernise in phases rather than through a costly rip-and-replace project.

Is resident data safe on a connected platform?

It can be, provided governance comes first. Managed Environments, DLP policies and proper access controls keep data secure and auditable, which is essential for public-sector compliance.

Where should the council start?

With one well-understood, painful process. Connect the systems involved, build a small app or automated flow, prove the value, then expand. Starting small reduces risk and builds momentum.