Welcome to the DLUHC Digital Planning Programme Newsletter!
Read on to hear more about the work of the DLUHC Digital Planning Programme, our latest funding opportunities and ways you can engage with the work of our teams and partners.
DLUHC Digital Planning Programme 2023 funding rounds are now open!
Our latest rounds of funding opened on Tuesday 17 October. The Local Authority projects we fund will align with DLUHC’s vision of enabling a modern and efficient planning system in England, shifting a documents-based system to one that is data-driven, standards-based, and powered by modern user-centred products and services.
Local Authorities are invited to apply for funding through both the:
- Digital Planning Improvement Fund: Round 2 – supporting Local Planning Authorities to adopt modern planning practices within planning data, digital capabilities and development management software.
- PropTech Innovation Fund: Round 4 – supporting Local Authority projects that demonstrate the benefits of how digital solutions can be utilised across either land assessment or digital citizen engagement.
If you are interested in these opportunities please check the Digital Planning website for more information about the funds, the application process and upcoming Q&A sessions for applicants. You can watch the recording of the funding launch event here and view the slides here.
How we’re #DoingPlanningDifferently
We have published our Digital Planning Programme Overview, explaining the problem we are trying to solve and our goals and aspirations, which are centred around four key outcomes:
- Better access to planning data
- Faster and more efficient planning decisions
- Improved local community engagement
- Simpler, faster, more accessible plan making
These four areas of work will help shift the current documents-based planning system to one that is powered by data and modern user-centred products and services. We invite you to read our programme overview and get in touch through digitalplanningteam@levellingup.gov.uk if you have any questions.
Rachel Maclean MP, Minister of State for Housing and Planning announces new UK PropTech Steering Board
This week Housing and Planning Minister, Rachel Maclean MP has launched a new Property Technology (PropTech) Steering Board made up of experts to transform the UK’s housing and planning sector.
The Board will explore how new technology can support councils to speed up planning decisions by using PropTech tools to streamline community engagement with planning applications and support developers to identify suitable sites for homes.
You can find out more about the board and its members on our website.
PropTech Innovation Fund: Discovery workshop insights
Ahead of Round 4 of the PropTech Innovation Fund opening, the team ran a series of discovery sessions open to local authorities, suppliers and industry partners which aimed to act as a space to share knowledge on how digital tools can improve land assessment, and inform the scope of the funding round.
It was great to hear first-hand the level of ambition and appetite for adoption of tools to support plan-making, regeneration, and infrastructure delivery. As part of our commitment to working in the open, championing collaboration, and #DoingPlanningDifferently we shared some of the discussion points on LinkedIn.
Spotlight on: Local Plans
Our Digital Planning Local Plans colleagues have been on the road over the past few weeks, engaging with more than 200 Local Planning Authorities and 40 consultants about the digital vision set out in the Local Plans consultation, which closed this week.
The team presented our ambition for faster, simpler, more accessible plans that deliver better outcomes, while gaining further insight into the opportunities and challenges in the current plan-making system. Find out more about the insight gathered at the roadshows in our recent LinkedIn article.
Stay up to date with our Open Digital Planning project
Open Digital Planning (ODP) is a community of forward thinking Local Planning Authorities working together to transform the planning system. Members have been working with technology companies to design new digital planning products that demonstrate what better software could look like.
So far teams have collaborated on PlanX and BOPS software and the Digital Site Notices project.
ODP councils run monthly public show and tells which are designed to empower planners with valuable knowledge and insights. Recent sessions have explored PlanX and BOPS in more depth and recordings are available on YouTube.
Details of upcoming events are shared on the ODP Project’s LinkedIn page if you would like to attend in future.
Events, Blogs and Partner News
The National Planning conference returns
The National Planning Conference, hosted by Planning Portal and the Royal Town Planning Institute, takes place in Birmingham on 9 and 10 November. The conference brings together planning professionals, industry bodies, public sector and service providers to discuss issues in the world of planning.
Visit the conference website to book tickets and to see the line-up of speakers, panel discussions, and breakout sessions available.
DLUHC Digital recruitment events
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities #DLUHCDigital team are holding a series of Recruitment Days in the West Midlands during November.
The sessions will offer an opportunity for digital professionals to connect with members of DLUHC’s digital teams, have two-way conversations and potentially get hired.
Each day will be dedicated to different roles:
- Product Management (1 November)
- Business Analysis (2 November)
- Live Service Management (8 November)
- Tech Architecture (8 November)
- Delivery Management (9 November)
- User Research (9 November)
Find out more in this blog post
Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Planner magazine feature
It was fantastic to see one of the programme’s PropTech Innovation Fund pilot projects featured in this month’s edition of The RTPI’s Planner magazine!
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council are #DoingPlanningDifferently by working with The Future Fox on a project which sees the council’s planning team explore the use of artificial intelligence to analyse responses to draft local plans.
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You can find out more about the work of the DLUHC Digital Planning Programme on our website, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, the Open Digital Planning website and our data platform.
Got a question? You can contact the team by emailing digitalplanningteam@levellingup.gov.uk
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
