Diving into planning decisions: What we learned from our latest user research 

Across England, local planning authorities use different formats to record the outcomes of planning applications. To unlock the full potential of this information and make critical details about what’s been approved and where more accessible, we’ve started work to standardise decision notices. This will help local authorities access the information they need instantly, supporting more effective planning and reporting for housing and infrastructure, while making this data available to others for analysis and forecasting. We’re driving forward these important improvements as part of our mission to standardise planning data across England.

Now that our work to standardise the planning application submission stage is well underway and entering the testing phase, we've shifted our focus to the other end of the planning permission process: the decision stage. 

We recently concluded a round of user research with our data standards community to understand the challenges and requirements around standardising decision data. We're defining this as the official decision itself, plus all the supporting information and up-to-date conditions that exist at the point the decision is made. This is more than just ‘approve’ or ‘refuse’ information – it’s the final, accurate data on what's actually been approved. 

We have been receiving responses to our survey and following up with in-depth interviews with local authorities and planning consultants. Thank you to everyone who took the time to contribute – your feedback is invaluable. 

Why standardised decision data is critical 

Our research confirmed that crucial information is currently scattered across documents, submitted during the planning application process, making it incredibly difficult to use this data for analysis or forecasting. The research identified 5 core areas where standardised decision data is urgently needed: 

Monitoring and reporting: Local, regional and central government need this data for statistical analysis. Having structured information is essential to measure the effectiveness of policies and understand how planning is shaping the country.  Forecasting and resources: The most accurate data on what is being built should be captured at the moment of decision. We know that changes to housing numbers can happen during the planning process but are locked away in documents, making it difficult for local authorities and infrastructure providers to forecast future infrastructure and resource needs.  Statutory consultation: Critical information, especially planning conditions, often needs to flow back to statutory consultees post-decision – organisations like the Environment Agency – that must be consulted with on certain applications. Standardising this data can ensure that it is correctly linked and flows through the entire system.  Follow-up planning applications: It is difficult to link applications efficiently and effectively, which can be hard to track backwards to an original application and subsequent applications, therefore making it difficult to understand how an approved development has changed and what will actually be delivered.  Appeals and enforcement: Handing off decisions to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) for an appeal, or to an enforcement team, currently involves re-extracting information from documents and reports, because there is not consistent final documentation. Structuring this data will smooth and speed up the appeals process. 

The problems we need to solve 

Unlike the submission stage, where we had existing national application forms as a starting point, we face a fundamental challenge looking at the decision stage: there is no single, standardised format for decision notices. This lack of a baseline is compounded by several other issues: 

Locked-up data: Time and again, we heard that critical geospatial information – like boundaries for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) habitats or specific tree locations – is submitted as a PDF or other document. This forces local authority staff to spend time manually recreating this data for their own GIS (geographic information system) tools. The information is there, but it's inaccessible as useable data.  Untracked changes: During the application process, key details like building numbers, floor space or building classifications often change through negotiations or amendments. This final, updated information is usually only captured in the decision notes or documents, not as structured data. At the point of decision, we need to capture these final details to ensure accuracy for everyone who needs this information later. 

Community insights: Our focus areas 

When we asked the community what the priorities were for standardisation, their insights highlighted a number of key areas where we can make the biggest positive impact:  

Culture change: As with any significant transformation, this was identified as a key focus area. The community emphasised that support will be needed to help bring people to work together to build new ways of working and sharing information – across teams, departments and organisations in the planning and development sector. This collaborative approach will be essential to achieve the collective adoption of the standards.    Data lifecycle and legacy: We were told that we must avoid short-term thinking. Planning decisions impact buildings that last for hundreds of years, so our standards must be robust enough to reflect the needs of all users for decades to come. Standardising historic data also presents a huge practical challenge and there is real cost associated with making these changes, which must be considered.  Skills and training: We can't introduce new data structures without understanding what help users may need to understand the new formats, what the new data is, where it comes from, how to work with it and the benefits of providing it.  Opportunity to innovate: There is a real concern that we simply digitise existing processes. The community expressed a real desire for us to actively use this opportunity to identify areas for innovation and improvements, and create a standard that can evolve as needs change over time. 

Next steps: Join the conversation 

This research confirms that the work ahead will require more than just technical fixes. It demands a serious effort to address cultural and process issues too. 

We will keep you updated on our progress. In the meantime, we need your continued help: 

Volunteer: If you have deep experience with decision notices, planning conditions or the data requirements of a specific statutory consultee, please join the data standards community to get involved.  Provide evidence: Continue to test our pilot submission standards and provide us with evidence-based feedback.  Check the backlog: You can now see all our tasks, including the challenges identified in this research, on our public project board. 

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The Digital Planning team is conducting user research to improve planning and its associated industries. We need volunteers from across the planning and development sector, including developers, landowners, planning consultants, planning officers and PropTech vendors. Register your interest to take part.