A notetaking tool called “Notes” is helping staff in the Vale of Glamorgan complete paperwork more efficiently, cutting case submission times by 36 per cent and freeing up valuable hours for frontline care.
Jason Bennett MBE, head of adult services and the Vale Alliance at Vale of Glamorgan Council, said: “Beam notes wasnʼt launched in isolation; it was accompanied by our implementation of a “strengths based practiceˮ training package.
“Beam Notes allows practitioners to spend their time really getting to know the person, their strengths and personal outcomes. It allows the practitioner to be fully present during their conversations whilst the AI takes care of the draft notes and initial record keeping for the practitioner to build from later.
“We have also introduced compassionate leadership across the department and Beam Notes allows supervision to focus on the person and having a meaningful conversation.”
The “Notes” tool, developed by social-impact technology company Beam, automatically generates documents from recorded meetings.
Instead of typing or writing notes, staff record meetings with consent and let the AI handle the paperwork.
Social Services has been using the tool in adult services since a successful pilot in 2025 and has since rolled it out to children’s services.
A total of 484 staff now use it daily.
Data from the three-month pilot shows practitioners saved an average of 2.5 hours per week on admin, with the top third saving 3.5 hours.
One practitioner saved more than nine hours.
80 per cent said the tool allowed them to spend more time with service users, and 86 per cent wanted to continue using it.
Sian Palmer, a practitioner, said: “Before using Notes, I was always stressed about completing assessments, care plans and other paperwork because I knew it took me longer than some of my colleagues due to my dyslexia.
“Being able to speak my thoughts into Notes has significantly reduced my anxiety around paperwork.
“I can see a real difference in the quality of my case notes and assessments since using the AI notetaker.”
The tool is now used by other local authorities and public sector organisations to support frontline documentation across social care.
Human oversight remains in place, with staff reviewing and editing all outputs before they are entered into council systems.
