Case studies / Public sector
Case studyA policy guidance assistant that cites its sources
A public body gave its caseworkers an assistant that answers questions from approved policy only, cites the exact paragraph behind each answer and logs every query for audit.
Overview
A national public body responsible for housing grants and tenancy regulation, with about 2,300 staff in a headquarters and six regional offices, answering to a government department and a parliamentary committee.
Scale. A policy library of more than 6,000 pages, including legislation summaries, operational guidance, decision frameworks and frequently amended procedural notes.
The challenge
Caseworkers answered questions from applicants, landlords and local authorities every day, and each answer had to rest on current policy. The policy library was large, spread across an intranet, shared drives and email circulars, and amended frequently. Finding the governing paragraph for an unusual case could take a quarter of an hour.
Under pressure, staff relied on memory, colleagues or old printouts. Quality checks found that two caseworkers could give different answers to the same question, and complaints to the ombudsman occasionally turned on guidance that had been superseded months earlier.
The leadership team saw promise in an AI assistant but set firm conditions. Answers had to come only from approved policy, staff had to be able to check every answer against its source, and the organisation had to be able to show exactly what had been asked and answered if a decision was later challenged.
The solution
Caseworkers type a question in their own words, for example whether a grant can be paid where the applicant's tenancy is in a partner's name. The assistant searches the approved policy library, drafts a concise answer and lists the paragraphs it drew on, each linked to the current version of the document. Staff read the source before relying on the answer.
Access controls mirror the organisation's existing permissions: internal-only guidance is visible only to staff entitled to see it. When policy is amended, the policy team publishes the new version and withdraws the old one, and the assistant reflects the change the same day.
Every query and answer is logged with the user, time and sources cited, and the log is retained under the organisation's records policy. The policy team reviews a sample of answers monthly and receives a list of questions the assistant could not answer, which has become a useful guide to where guidance is missing or unclear.
The engagement
- Six months
- Five specialists, with a policy steering group and the information security team
- Policy collection and scoping, assistant build with citations, access controls, query logging, answer review, pilot with caseworker teams and organisation-wide rollout.
Integrations
- Policy document store
- Identity service
- Staff intranet
- Audit log
- Usage analytics
How we delivered it
- 01
Collect approved policy and define scope
Six weeks
With the policy steering group we identified the authoritative version of each document, removed duplicates and drafts, and agreed which areas the assistant would cover first. Topics involving safeguarding or legal advice were deliberately excluded and routed to specialists.
- 02
Build the assistant with citations
Eight weeks
The assistant searches only the approved library. Every answer is short, written in plain English and followed by links to the exact paragraphs it relies on. If the library does not answer the question, the assistant says so rather than guessing.
- 03
Pilot with a few teams
Six weeks
Three caseworker teams used the assistant on live work. Policy officers reviewed a sample of answers each week, checking accuracy, completeness and tone, and gaps in the library were logged and filled.
- 04
Roll out with logging
Six weeks
The assistant opened to all staff through the intranet, with every query and answer logged against the user's identity. A monthly review by the policy team checked samples and tracked unanswered questions.
Results
- Staff found guidance faster and found the current version
- Every answer could be verified against its source
- Usage logged and auditable for reviews and complaints
- Gaps in policy identified from unanswered questions
Caseworkers find the right guidance in minutes rather than after a long search, and they find the current version. The time saved goes back into casework and into calls with applicants who need more explanation.
Answers can be verified, so they are more consistent. Quality checks found far fewer cases where staff gave differing answers to the same question, and supervisors report that new staff become confident sooner because they can see the policy behind each answer.
Usage is fully auditable. When a decision was challenged at review, the organisation could show which guidance the caseworker had consulted and when. The list of unanswered questions has led the policy team to rewrite several unclear sections.
The citation is the whole point. My staff can see where an answer comes from in seconds, and if it is ever challenged, so can we.
What made the difference
Citations let staff verify answers quickly. Because every answer pointed to its paragraph, caseworkers checked rather than trusted, and that habit made the assistant safe to use in a regulated setting.
