The words ‘local government' and ‘exciting' are not often put together by people outside of the sector, but I can confidently say they are apt for Southend-on-Sea where we have become the first local authority to purchase a humanoid robot called Pepper to become a member of our social care team.

Introducing robotics to Southend-on-Sea and into local government in general is a pioneering moment and something we are proud to be a part of.  I'm fortunate to have a talented and innovative team, who've been eager to support me in driving forward this work to the point where we have Pepper functioning, programmed, introduced to staff and ready to ‘start his work.'