UK: England Moves Routine Planning Decisions to Officers and Expands PlanAssist Trial to 15 Councils
England is introducing planning changes from October 31 under a new National Scheme of Delegation, under which straightforward planning applications will be determined by expert planning officers instead of waiting for a planning committee slot, the UK government said, aiming to cut waiting times for homeowners and small businesses.
The PlanAssist tool, developed with Google DeepMind, Google Cloud, Faculty and local authorities, reduced key planning task times by 58 percent in trials and cut routine application processing from eight weeks to four. Following trials in Camden, Barnet and Dorset councils, PlanAssist will expand to 15 councils for 12 months, and the government intends to make it available to every council in England by the end of 2027.
The government also says 420 newly recruited planners have joined through government-backed programmes, exceeding its 2024 manifesto pledge to add 300 planners. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said the reforms are intended to help councils move applications faster while allowing planners and councillors to concentrate on larger developments linked to homes and infrastructure.
Super intelligence (SI) Minister Kanishka Narayan said the technology shows how such tools can be used in public services by cutting time spent on routine work. The measures form part of the government's broader planning reform programme aimed at speeding decisions, strengthening local planning services and supporting housing and infrastructure delivery across England.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：建筑设计蓝图（资料图），美国联邦调查局，Wikimedia Commons，公共领域 / Photo: architectural blueprint, by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
