Practical patterns, templates, and decision frameworks for deploying AI responsibly in UK public sector contexts — from healthcare to local government to procurement.
The UK Government published its AI Playbook in February 2025. It tells you what to think about. This repository gives you working artefacts to act on it.
Every template here is ready to fill in. Every checklist has been designed for practitioners, not just policy readers. Every framework is grounded in UK and EU regulation.
If you're a civil servant, council officer, NHS team, or public sector AI practitioner — this is for you.
The principles and readiness baseline every public sector AI project needs.
| Document | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Principles | 8 core responsible AI principles mapped to UK/EU regulation |
| AI Readiness Assessment | 25-question assessment across 5 dimensions; produces a readiness score and priority actions |
| Document | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Use Case Decision Framework | Step-by-step framework: validate the problem, assess risk tier (1–4), determine governance requirements |
| Document | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Supplier Due Diligence Checklist | 40+ checklist items across 7 sections; sign-off table for legal, DPO, and security |
| AI Contract Clause Library | Ready-to-adapt contract clauses covering transparency, human oversight, data protection, security, IP, and performance |
| Sector | What's Covered |
|---|---|
| Healthcare | NHS-specific: MHRA/SaMD classification, DCB0129, NHS DSPT, national data opt-out, pre-deployment checklist |
| Local Government | ATRS compliance guide, governance board structure, planning AI pattern, scrutiny and democratic accountability |
| Criminal Justice | (Coming soon) |
| Document | What It Does |
|---|---|
| AI Risk Register | 7 pre-populated risk entries (bias, hallucination, data breach, oversight loss, drift, vendor failure, trust) with likelihood/impact scoring |
| Document | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Model Card Template | Complete model card: training data, architecture, performance by subgroup, fairness metrics, monitoring, accountability |
| Bias Audit Template | Pre-deployment fairness evaluation: demographic parity, equal opportunity, predictive parity, intersectional analysis |
| Tool | What It Does |
|---|---|
| readiness_scorer.py | Interactive CLI that scores your AI readiness assessment and saves a Markdown report |
| governance_report_generator.py | Takes a JSON project definition and generates a formatted governance pack |
For a new AI project: Start at the beginning.
- Complete the AI Readiness Assessment — or run
python tools/readiness_scorer.py - Use the Use Case Decision Framework to determine your risk tier
- Follow the governance requirements for your tier
- Use the procurement documents if buying AI from a vendor
- Complete the Model Card and Bias Audit before go-live
For a specific sector: Go straight to the sector playbook.
- NHS / healthcare → Healthcare Playbook
- Council / combined authority → Local Government Playbook
For procurement: Use the Supplier Due Diligence Checklist and Contract Clause Library alongside your legal team.
All content in this playbook is aligned with:
| Framework | Coverage |
|---|---|
| UK AI Playbook (Feb 2025) | Core principles, lifecycle guidance, procurement |
| EU AI Act (2024) | Risk classification, high-risk AI requirements, human oversight |
| UK GDPR / DPA 2018 | Data protection, DPIA requirements, lawful basis |
| Equality Act 2010 | PSED, protected characteristics, bias assessment |
| NIST AI RMF | GOVERN, MAP, MEASURE, MANAGE functions |
| ATRS | Algorithmic transparency publication requirements |
| DCB0129 | NHS clinical safety standard |
| NCSC Secure by Design | Security requirements for AI systems |
| ISO 42001 | AI management system standard |
- Foundations, principles, readiness assessment
- Use case decision framework with risk tiering
- Procurement: supplier due diligence + contract clauses
- Healthcare sector playbook
- Local government sector playbook
- AI risk register template
- Model card template
- Bias audit template
- Python tools (readiness scorer, governance report generator)
- Criminal justice sector playbook
- Incident response plan template
- Post-deployment monitoring dashboard (Streamlit)
- Case study library (anonymised real examples)
- Welsh and Scottish devolved context supplements
- Central government / HMRC specific patterns
Contributions are very welcome — especially:
- Additional sector playbooks (DWP, HMRC, MOJ, education)
- Anonymised case studies from real public sector deployments
- Updates when regulations or guidance changes
- Translations of templates into Welsh (Cymraeg)
See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
This repository is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). You are free to use, adapt, and redistribute — including for commercial purposes — with attribution.
This playbook is provided for guidance purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Always consult qualified legal, data protection, and regulatory experts for your specific circumstances.
Created and maintained by Linda Oraegbunam — AI & ML Engineer, PhD Candidate at Leeds Business School researching autonomous AI systems, governance, and sustainability.
- 🐦 X / Twitter
- 📺 YouTube — AI with Linda
- 🔧 agentic-alignment-toolkit — companion technical repo
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