PRESS RELEASE : Housing and Planning Minister visits Digital Planning partner council [January 2023]

Housing and Planning Minister, Lucy Frazer, visited Buckinghamshire Council today (January 26), to see how DLUHC funding is being used to develop new Digital Planning services as part of the department’s Digital Planning Programme.

The minister met with a range of representatives from across the council including members and council officers who have been involved in the DLUHC funded Open Digital Planning (ODP) Project. The project brings together pioneering councils with digital agencies to co-design, build, test and launch more efficient software for planning.

Together with Lambeth and Southwark Councils, Buckinghamshire was one of the first local authorities to launch new digital planning services in 2022. Two of the new services which will help make the planning process easier for people applying were demonstrated to Minister Frazer during the visit.

The “Find Out If You Need Planning Permission” guidance service and “Apply for a Lawful Development Certificate” application service use plain English questions and visual guides to streamline the planning process for residents. The services allow users to quickly understand which permitted development rights exist on a property, submit proposals where planning permission is unlikely to be needed and apply for the documentation needed to prove a planning project is lawful.

Minister Frazer was also shown Buckinghamshire’s new Back Office Planning System (BOPS). This back-end case-management system for local authorities allows planning officers to reach planning decisions quickly by clearly indicating whether the application meets pre-programmed criteria. It also enables direct communications between planning officers and applicants.

Housing and Planning Minister, Lucy Frazer said:

It was fantastic to hear about the work going on in Buckinghamshire in the Digital Planning space. We want to ensure the public are better connected to the planning issues and decisions that affect them whilst also supporting councils to develop cutting edge services which will save them time and money.

These new digital services will modernise the planning system, speeding up applications and help us to deliver our levelling up mission.

Councillor Martin Tett, Leader of Buckinghamshire Council said:

We’re proud to be working with government to pilot new prototype software which will streamline and simplify the planning process for applicants and the council alike – and we’ve been delighted to welcome the Minister to Buckinghamshire today so show her this software in action.

As a new council, we’re proud to be at the forefront of developing and trialling new ways of working for councils that ultimately bring big benefits to our residents.

Work to improve the software used to process planning applications is only one part of DLUHC’s Digital Planning programme which is using digital tools and data to improve the current planning system, saving time and money for people and Local Planning Authorities (LPAs).

Other areas of the programme include:

• Developing new legislation as part of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, to support our ambitions to create a data-driven planning system.
• The development of the Planning.Data.gov.uk platform which makes land and housing data openly available on a national scale.
• The delivery of a faster, more efficient local plan-making process, and
• Accelerating the adoption of digital engagement tools to increase the quantity and quality of engagement through the planning process, through our PropTech Engagement Fund.

You can find out more about the DLUHC Digital Planning Programme on the DLUHC Digital Blog.