NORTH Somerset Council has appointed a cabinet member for AI, in what is believed to be a first at any council in England.

Previous leader of the council Steve Bridger (Yatton, Independent) has been brought back into the administration to be its cabinet member for Digital, AI, and Service Transformation. It is believed to be the first time a council has appointed a cabinet member to oversee AI.

The announcement was made at the North Somerset meeting on May 12 as the council elected a chairperson and new cabinet members.

Cllr Bridger said: “Obviously North Somerset, like a lot of councils, are developing AI tools but I think what is important to me is that it serves residents and communities.

“It’s not just a question of using AI and getting rid of staff. I don’t think we have to do that necessarily.

“Something I am really keen to work on is across data and AI literacy amongst councillors but also to see if there are ways of involving residents in how we take decisions about how we use AI tools.”

He added, he wanted to make sure the council was not “outsourcing our judgement and empathy” to AI.

Mr Bridger was previously led the partnership administration from May 2022, when Don Davies (formerly Pill, Independent) stepped down as leader, until the local elections in 2023, when current council leader Mike Bell (Weston-super-Mare Central, Liberal Democrat) took over.

He has since chaired the council’s Corporate, Assets, Transport, and Environment Scrutiny (CATES) committee, which revealed the scandal around Carlton Street Car Park. Mr Bridger said: “I enjoyed the three years chairing scrutiny. I took that very seriously.” CATES will now be chaired by Cllr Mike Solomon (Hutton and Locking) who is leaving the council cabinet.

For a full list of committee chair and Cabinet changes, visit www.n-somerset.gov.uk