Laying the foundations for better local public services
Planning Software Improvement Fund
£5 million of funding is available for councils to improve their digital planning services for residents and officers
The Planning Software Improvement Fund aims to help Local Planning Authorities in England (LPAs) to improve the digital services they use for the submission and assessment of planning applications – the development management side of local planning. There is £5 million available overall.
The projects we fund will need to align with MHCLG’s vision for a new, more modular, software landscape to encourage digital innovation and provide access to underlying data. This will help automate routine processes, which will support faster and more certain decision-making.
The fund is currently closed for applications. You can read successful LPA’s project summaries below.
Track 2: Adopt new services and integrate with existing software
Adopt one of the Open Digital Planning software products (PlanX or BOPS), and work with an existing service provider on targeted service improvements and technical integrations.
Track 3: Improve existing software products and integrations with service providers
Work with existing service providers on targeted service improvements and technical integrations in line with MHCLG’s vision for digital planning.
Find out more about each funding track using the expandable menu below.
Funding tracks
Join the Open Digital Planning project to adopt and work with other LPAs to design the PlanX and BOPS services for submitting and processing planning applications.
In August, the Open Digital Planning project launched three live services, which aim to make it simpler for applicants to make and council officers to process a planning application.
A Guidance Service, built on PlanX as part of the RIPA project.
An Application Service, also built on PlanX as part of the RIPA project.
An Assessment Service, built as part of the BOPS project.
LPAs with Track 1 funding will work with other councils and project partners to continue the development of the services, and should choose a level of involvement – high, medium, or low – based on the level of staff time they are willing to commit to project work.
The level of funding available varies depending on how much time a partner council can commit to co-creation activities – see How to Join on the ODP website for more detail. The maximum amounts available to councils are:
High Involvement: up to £300,000 staffing costs (2-4 Full Time Equivalent (FTE)s), £100,000 non-staffing costs.
Medium Involvement: up to £200,000 staffing costs (1-2 FTEs), £100,000 non-staffing costs.
Low Involvement: up to £100,000 staffing costs (1 FTE), £100,000 non-staffing costs.
Local Planning Authorities adopting Open Digital Planning services should be able to work towards the project’s Adoption Commitments, and must read and commit to these before applying.
Adopt one of the Open Digital Planning software products (PlanX or BOPS), and work with an existing service provider on targeted service improvements and technical integrations.
LPAs with Track 2 funding have two options:
1. PlanX option: Adopt the Open Digital Planning Application service (built on PlanX) and work with your council’s existing back office system provider to develop integrations and make specific service improvements that will be scaled to other LPAs using the same product. Applications should include one or more of the following:
2. BOPS option: Adopt the Open Digital Planning Assessment service (built on BOPS) and work with an existing submission service provider to develop integrations and make specific service improvements that will be scaled to other LPAs using the same service. Applications should include one or more of the following:
An automated planning constraints check via the National Planning Data Platform, so that applicants can see what constraints apply to their property.
A digital red-line boundary tool so that applicants can draw and submit site location plan polygons as GeoJson data to BOPS.
Successful applicants with Track 2 funding will be expected to take part in ‘Low involvement’ commitments to the Open Digital Planning project. Equivalent to a 0.5 FTE contribution, this will involve participation in an integrations working group and regular user group and metrics activities.
Local Planning Authorities should therefore be able to work towards the Open Digital Planning Adoption Commitments, and must read and commit to these before applying.
Successful applications are likely to have consulted and developed an approach with the existing service provider.
The funds are intended to backfill and bolster council delivery and technical resources, and technical work with the service provider.
Up to £300,000 is available for councils taking the PlanX option.
Up to £250,000 is available for councils taking the BOPS option.
Where LPAs share the same service provider and have the same project idea, we expect you to apply individually and we will ‘match-make’ successful applicants. In such cases, it may make sense for one council to manage the contract and grant for the technical work on behalf of other LPAs. We will discuss this with successful applicants before the award is confirmed.
All APIs developed using this funding will be tested, fully documented, and published to a library of open APIs for digital planning services.
Work with existing service providers on targeted service improvements and technical integrations in line with MHCLG’s vision for digital planning.
LPAs will work with an existing submission service provider and their existing back office system provider to develop an open API integration that passes planning application data between the two systems.
LPAs will work with an existing submission service provider and their existing back office system provider to develop integrations and make specific service improvements that will be scaled to other LPAs using the same software and services. Applications should consider:
Successful applications are likely to have consulted and developed an approach with the existing service provider.
The funds are intended to backfill and bolster council delivery and technical resources, and technical work with the service provider.
Up to £250,000 is available for councils on Track 3.
Where LPAs share the same service provider and have the same project idea, we expect you to apply individually and we will ‘match-make’ successful applicants. In such cases, it may make sense for one council to manage the contract and grant for the technical work on behalf of other LPAs. We will discuss this with successful applicants before the award is confirmed.
All APIs developed using this funding will be tested, fully documented, and published to a library of open APIs for digital planning services.
Project Summaries
Track 1
Successful LPAs in track one will join the existing Open Digital Planning project teams to co-design and deliver new, open source software – PlanX and BOPS. ‘These LPAs will learn how to develop user centred software in an agile way, and to deliver working software to residents and council officers at regular intervals.
The successful LPAs are:
Birmingham City Council
Canterbury City Council
Epsom and Ewell Borough Council
London Borough of Barnet
Track 2
The following Local Planning Authorities will join the Open Digital Planning Project to implement the PlanX ‘Find Out If You Need Planning Permission’ service, and the PlanX Application services.
They will work with their existing supplier, Idox, to develop and test integrations between PlanX and their Idox Uniform back office system used by their planning services to process applications. They will also begin the implementation of a new data standard for planning applications:
Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council
West Berkshire Council
Tewkesbury Borough Council
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
St Albans City and District Council will join the Open Digital Planning Project to implement the PlanX ‘Find Out If You Need Planning Permission’ service, and the PlanX Application services. They will work with their exisitng supplier, Agile Applications, to develop and test integrations between PlanX and the Agile Applications back office AI Validation tool used by their planning service.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council will join the Open Digital Planning Project to implement the BOPS service. They will work with the Planning Portal to develop and test integrations between the Portal and BOPS, and to begin the implementation of a new data standard for planning applications.
Track 3
Liverpool Council and MHCLG’s DELTA team will be working together on an extensive piece of discovery work to build up an emerging picture of the problem and opportunity for reporting planning statistical data to Central Government. We will do this by understanding the problem from multiple perspectives beyond Liverpool including other Local Planning Authorities nationally.
Dover District Council, working with ESRI UK, will develop a tool to enable local authorities’ spatial data to be included in the National Planning Map. This will enable planning constraints information to be returned as part of the online planning application process, improving the accuracy of the application process for applicants and local authorities.
The London Borough of Redbridge’s goal is to improve the quality of planning application data received by their systems, enabling us to streamline and automate their manual processes. They will be working with Agile Applications and the Planning Portal to improve APIs between their systems; these improvements can then be shared with Local Authorities using the same systems.
Salford City Council will build open APIs between 3 systems so that information collected by the validation system (Agile Applications), can pre-populate the back-office system (Arcus Global) and provide access to the plan assessment system (Objective Trapeze). They aim to make data in applications more available and easier to be used and consumed by other systems.
Dorset Council aims to reduce invalid planning applications by providing better upfront information to applicants about their specific validation requirements. Working with DEF Software and the Planning Portal, they will implement a digital red-lining tool and improve data transfer using their biodiversity checklist to pilot a process designed around users’ needs.
Wirral Council will develop an API with their existing supplier Idox to enable using Microsoft Power BI for the production of planning reporting improvements from data stored in Idox Cloud services.
London Borough of Waltham Forest will continue to develop a front–end monitoring tool (called BuildUp) used in their Building Control service, which enables users to find information about the status of housing development. They will develop APIs to feed data into the tool and the exported data will enable the adoption of the solution by LPAs using the same back-office systems.
North Somerset Council aims to reduce the number invalid householder planning applications by creating an intelligent online form, linked to our data, that tells applicants exactly what documents they need to include with their planning application. We will work with the Planning Portal to roll out this functionality to their application forms, so that all LPAs can benefit.
North Lincolnshire Council will build a modern API to connect their application submission supplier (Planning Portal) to their existing back office case management solution (Arcus Global Built Environment). This will enable improvements to be made on demand from both suppliers without major impact, and an improved potential two-way data feed to enhance user experience and improve data sharing.
Benefits for Local Planning Authorities
Local Planning Authorities taking part in our funded projects will help shape new policy changes and be the beneficiaries of improved software that supports better and more efficient development management. The projects we fund will shape the new digital powers proposed in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.
In addition, participating local authorities should see a reduction in invalid planning applications, data more readily accessible to officers and applicants, and quicker application processing.
Council officers can also take advantage of training related to Geographic Information System (GIS) and data, and build up a better understanding of technology in planning services. Open Digital Planning (ODP) partners will be encouraged to pursue training opportunities to improve their understanding of digital service design, writing good content, and other skills planners are likely to need in the future.
The Planning Software Improvement Fund Prospectus
You can read the original application Prospectus for the fund and information about the different funding tracks below.
All applications had to be submitted using the online application forms by 23 December 2022.
Microsoft Word versions of the application forms for collaborative working ahead of submission were also available. Final submissions had to come via the online forms above.
The team held regular Q&A sessions ahead of the application deadline. There were three sessions for council teams and one for suppliers.
Answers to questions from other sessions at the bottom of this page.
If you would like any more information about the fund you can contact the team by emailing [email protected]
Questions and answers from the virtual Q&A sessions held so far.
Q: How it can improve our current system and meet the government’s digitisation agenda.
MHCLG will be taking new powers via the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB) regarding approved planning software and mandated data standards. We will be defining the data standards and testing them through this work via trial implementations.
The integrations specified are expected to use consistent schemas for data across all different products and services in the market. We’ll be talking to project participants on both the ‘demand’ and ‘supply’ side about other plans related to this. There will be a spirit of collaboration throughout this process in informing the national agenda.
Q: Scope of funding
Development management services for the project opportunities outlined in the Fund information on the webpage and in the prospectus.
Q: Understanding if funding can be applied for if there has already been funding allocated for an existing project.
In principle yes, provided the application for project funding is in scope.
Q: Can the fund be used to link historic planning records to a system to enable interrogation by the public?
In principle yes. One deliverable we would like to see is an API to expose historic planning information. If your application proposes a project that takes things further than this, we would be interested to hear it.
Q: How could the fund support aspirations to improve data capture and quality (including metadata) at source and improving processes for data availability and publication through council GIS.
The integrations work that funded projects undertake will be delivered alongside the development of a new data schema for planning application submissions as part of the new powers we are taking to standardise planning data in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
In all tracks we are encouraging the development and use of functionality to automatically check planning constraints data via the National Planning Data Platform and work towards publishing the required GIS layers to the new standardised format.
Q: Could the fund assist with simplifying complex data for presentation to citizens?
This is out of scope for this fund. MHCLG also runs a Proptech Engagement Fund so please contact the team via [email protected]
Q: What is available and what are the timelines for the software?
The amounts available are detailed on the Fund webpage. The deadline for applications is 23 December 2022. We expect to announce the successful applicants by February 2023. Project can then get underway. We expect all projects to have started by Easter. The length of time they run for will depend on your scope and delivery plan.
Q: If you get lots of similar bids – will you put people together?
Yes, if there are successful LPAs in the same track with the same supplier, we will ask LPAs to join together. This is included as part of section 2 in the application form.
Q: Are extra documents such as corporate briefing papers allowed with the application form?
The application form will be scored against the Assessment Criteria in the Fund Prospectus. Supplementary documentation will not be taken into consideration, unless it is specifically asked for.
Q: We’re considering track 3 but don’t have a submission supplier – we’re using planning portal
Q: Can councils apply to the fund if they are in the process of migrating to a new supplier.
Councils must work with their existing software provider on their project. If the system is not yet live, then they are not eligible. We plan to open the Planning Software Improvement Fund at least once per year so there will be more opportunities in the future if the timing is not right this time.
Q: Many councils have a duty to carry out their statutory role. Are they able to submit a bid using the supplier’s skills to backfill their role?
Yes. The funding is available to support backfill and bolster council delivery and technical resources. There are different ways that council teams can resource their teams e.g. hiring interims via agencies, and this should be elaborated in the delivery plan on the application form.
Q: Supplier involvement in bid process and advice on bid writing?
This will apply to councils applying for Tracks 2 and 3. We encourage you to speak to your supplier when putting your bid together to get a realistic idea of the support they can provide and the potential costs. This should be made clear in your delivery plan. The projects and the applications will need to be led by council teams.
Q: What would you like to know about the relationship we have with our supplier in the application form? What would make a ‘good answer’?
We expect the strongest bids to be those where there’s an established working relationship with the supplier. Applications will need to be led by Council Teams and are expected to account for supplier costs in the resource plan.
Q: [On Open Digital Planning]: What has been developed so far and has anything been released into live – if so which LPAs are using it?
This question relates to Open Digital Planning (RIPA/BOPS)
Currently three services are in live use in three councils, and 6 more councils are planning to launch the services in the new year.
The services are:
A guidance service called Find out if you need planning permission, built on the PlanX platform
An application service for Lawful Development Certificates, built on the PlanX platform
An application assessment service built on BOPS, the ‘Back Office Planning System’ for processing LDCs More information here.
Q: What is the development roadmap for the products?
The Open Digital Planning team are now building products to process applications for householder planning permission.
There is work underway to explore the need for a decisions register, and to launch a service for prior approval applications. The fund will support the development of integrations with other software products. The goal is for partner councils to be running services that process all simple application types up to householder planning permissions and demonstrate performance improvement in 2024. Read more.
Q: Are there any case studies?
Up to date case studies related to Open Digital Planning are under development. To find out the latest from the project, please watch the team’s recent virtual Showcase event, run in November 2022.
Q: Have the benefits of Lawful Development Certificates through BoPS and PlanX been realised yet? Efficiencies/Staff time savings?
Services have been live since August. Feedback is high level, however there is a stringent working group around metrics. Time savings for validation have been really encouraging – 50-60% faster for validation in Lambeth – although the sample size is currently small. It will be around 2 quarters until we can confidently report back on efficiencies from our initial pioneer councils Lambeth, Buckinghamshire and Southwark.
Q: What teams do you have set up – what skills and skillsets are needed
Lambeth has a team of three, soon to be four – one lead on PlanX, one on BOPS, both planners. There is also someone that does metrics and data work and someone new to work on components about digitising site notices. The Open Digital Planning project requires contributions to three aspects of work: implementation of the products; contributions to collaborative product development; the everyday running of the services.
These can be resourced based on the level of staff involvement you would like to have in shaping the direction of the services:
High Involvement: up to £300,000 staffing costs (2-4 Full Time Equivalent (FTE)s), £100,000 non-staffing costs.
Medium Involvement: up to £200,000 staffing costs (1-2 FTEs), £100,000 non-staffing costs.
Low Involvement: up to £100,000 staffing costs (1 FTE), £100,000 non-staffing costs.
Q: Does dual processing need to be factored in in terms of people’s time
Yes, as part of their funding bid with MHCLG LPAs have included staff costs to cover the dual processing.
Q: Do staff have to be employed by the Council or could we use any funding allocated to employ staff through a 3rd party. [It] Does sometimes help to get round recruitment issues?
Yes, you can use the finding to employ staff through a third party e.g. agency.
Q: We’re working on a Round 1 digital citizen engagement fund project and see synergies around householder applications. Is there an opportunity to connect, and is there flexibility in track one to do so?
LPAs joining the software fund will specifically be working on development management services. There are opportunities to connect on similar API integrations, for example, if via the digital citizen engagement fund project you are looking at integrating with development management back office systems. Do raise this with MHCLG’s Digital Citizen Engagement team so we can make the connections. However funding for such work with suppliers of consultation services will not be possible with this funding.
Q: Under track two – is there a cost or subscription to purchase BOPS or PlanX?
BOPS is under development and there is the intention for it to be a commercial product in future. There is a provisional licensing fee for PlanX, which is going to be reviewed with partners – everyone who is part of the Open Digital Planning project will be invited to consider the commercial model which will inform any pricing or subscription fees. The long term ambition for Open Digital Planning is that it will become a not-for-profit independent legal entity that is run in a sustainable way and responsible for managing affordable digital services for plan. The team is taking inspiration from LocalGovDrupal, another MHCLG-funded project.
Q: I’m interested to learn more about Track 2 and how BOPs could be implemented and can it replace our existing system
It depends what the existing system is, and the level of feature parity you are looking for as BOPS is still in development. For example, it will not be able to process applications for minor and major schemes till the end of the funding period (March 2025). However, the intention is to design and build a fully functioning end-to-end product that can replace existing development management modules used by council planning teams. The roadmap for BOPS is viewable here.
Q: Is the intention for BOPS to replace existing back office systems?
BOPS is to be a standalone product that does everything a development management product currently does. The intent is to create a tool with planning officers in mind. It won’t replace Uniform entirely if that’s being used across the council. BOPS is being developed around DM so it can not replace other activities (e.g. enforcement) and APIs connections to existing modules will be important.
Q: Have you got support from Idox or one of the big case management providers?
Idox are involved in the same way as every other supplier: via their customers. As a large number of existing project partners use Idox as their back-office case management system provider, a trial integration has been developed between PlanX and Idox’s Uniform product.
Q: If an LPA implements BoPS what is the support mechanism?
Currently the support contract for BOPS is held by Unboxed, the main delivery partner for the BOPS project. In the future the team envisages that Open Digital Planning will become a legal entity that is not-for-profit, governs the open source code behind its products, and has a sustainable commercial model behind it. Councils will have an important role in the governance of this entity, which may itself – or through partners – provide different service offerings, which could include a Software-as-a-Service model.
Q: Will this change the way that people apply? E.g. will applications still be submitted via the Planning Portal?
The Planning Portal is not the only submission service that LPAs use, and we don’t expect that to change. In encouraging more innovation in the planning software ecosystem, we hope that there will be more choice for applicants. For example, some applicants may prefer to continue to use existing submission services such as the Planning Portal, whereas others may prefer Plan X.
Q: Can you provide more detail on Track 3 and how this would work with an existing supplier
Examples of what we would like to see for Track 3 are:
An open API integration that passes planning application data between an existing submission service and an existing back-office system (this example has been developed by the Open Digital Planning project).
An automated planning constraints check via the National Planning Data Platform, so that applicants can see what constraints apply to their property.
A digital red-line boundary tool so that applicants can draw and submit site location plan polygons as GeoJson data to BOPS.
An outbound API for historical planning data , so that it can be used by other data consumers (this example has been developed by the Open Digital Planning project).
You will be expected to establish a project team to deliver the work. Please use the funding to work with your supplier and bring in additional resources needed.
Q: In terms of costs, could councils include cost for licences for new software (e.g. if we integrate with one of their existing software but aren’t a supplier yet)?
We’ll review this on a case by case basis. In general the funds are intended for improvements to DM software to meet the department’s emerging standards, not on-going BAU costs. They might be used to procure, for example, licences for time-recording software that supports the delivery of project outcomes.
Q: Once these products are in beta, will they be available off the shelf for other council’s to buy?
The emphasis is on councils and suppliers to create things that can be reused and scaled by the end of the funded period. Something we ask for as part of application is that councils work in the open and publicly document what they do – taking part in regular show & tells, and publishing public APIs for track 3, for example. We want the market to be more open, where the data standards are consistent and products are more flexible.
Q: Can the track 3 option be used for integration of two systems – e.g. planning policies and development management?
This is out of scope. This round of funding is to support integrations between software and services used for the submission of planning applications, and back-office processing for development management tasks. GIS systems are in scope.
UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) 
