RIPA/BOPS Adoption Commitments

The RIPA/BOPS EOI is inviting Expressions of Interest from councils who wish to join the RIPA/BOPS project team to design and implement new development management software. Councils adopting RIPA and BOPS should be able to work towards the following commitments:

Assemble the right team
People you nominate from your existing team, or recruit specifically to join the project team, have the right mix of skills and experience and can commit the required time for project activities. They easily slot into the project team’s established working practices, which are based on agile software development principles. There are strong links between representatives and the planning service in your council.
Secure stakeholder buy-in
Endorsements to implement RIPA and BOPS are given by senior stakeholders. Directors involved in planning, IT, transformation and finance are consulted.
Brief IT and web teams
The responsible people in the project team clearly understand the requirements and processes for launching and running a public beta service for RIPA and BOPS. Integrations with existing business software products are defined in collaboration with relevant systems specialists. Key people in IT, digital, customer experience and web teams are consulted.
Geospatial data can be used by RIPA and BOPS
Key geospatial datasets* are available in a machine readable format that can be consumed by RIPA, BOPS and other digital services. The public beta service requires the following:
- - Article 4 directions
  - Conservation areas
  - Listed buildings
  - Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
  - National parks
  - Broads
  - World Heritage Sites
  - Scheduled monuments
  - Tree preservation orders
  - Sites of Special Scientific Interest
* Additional datasets may be identified through the course of the beta development.
GIS layers should be reviewed and updated to ensure compatibility with RIPA, and published online under an OGL3 or similar open licence for data.
Process payments using GOV.UK Pay
All payments received through RIPA are processed using the open source GOV.UK Pay payments platform via Stripe, and local authority finance teams support this.
Send Notifications using GOV.UK Notify
All notifications to applicants from RIPA or BOPS are sent using the open source GOV.UK Notify platform.
Promote the use of RIPA and BOPS
Councils use their websites and digital communications channels to encourage applicants to use the new RIPA/BOPS beta service. Project team members lead peer-to-peer conversations with colleagues and counterparts in other councils to inform and educate them about the products. Opportunities to take part in occasional presentations and conferences are shared among team members.
Contribute to monitoring and evaluation
Councils measure the performance of new and existing software through reporting and time recording. This informs the business cases for future funding and new adopters.
Secure the necessary data approvals
Data protection impact assessments, data protection agreements and privacy notices are approved following conversations with Data Protection Officers and information governance teams.
Embrace a culture of learning and improvement across council teams
Project team members brief and train planning service staff on the new products and engage them in research and testing activities.
Sign the Local Digital Declaration
Partner councils agree to modern ways of designing and developing digital services, in line with the principles of the Local Digital Declaration and the Government Technology Code of Practice.

These commitments have been compiled by the three pioneering partner councils who have led the project work to date, supported by DLUHC, and reflect their combined learnings so far. DLUHC staff and existing team members will work closely with new partners to help them meet the commitments.