Planning application validation

• Every new application is checked within minutes of arriving against the national requirements and the authority's published local list, with each finding linked to the page it came from.
• Drawings are read for the basics: a red line boundary, scale, north point, and the plans the description needs.
• Site constraints are checked from the authority's own map layers and national planning data, so the local list requirements that apply are known straight away.
• Where something is missing, a clear, specific invalid-application letter is drafted for the validation officer, quoting the requirement and why it applies.
• Consultation responses are summarised by planning theme for the case officer, with every comment still one click away and non-planning matters marked as such.
• Officers stay in control: the validation officer decides whether an application is valid, the case officer or committee decides the application, and every step is logged.

• MHCLGTown and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015
  →

  Sets the national requirements for a valid application. Local list items can only be required if the list was published in the two years before the application, and they must be reasonable and relevant to the development. Applicants can dispute a requirement, and the authority must reply within set time limits. The checks only ask for what the published lists allow, and every request cites the requirement it comes from.

• MHCLGPlanning and Infrastructure Act 2025 and the national scheme of delegation
  →

  Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. From 31 October 2026, regulations set nationally which applications officers decide and which can go to committee. Planning fees are moving to a national default set to recover more of the cost, with local fee-setting powers to follow, so fee checks are configuration, not hard-coded.

• MHCLGNational Planning Policy Framework (August 2026)
  →

  The revised NPPF was published on 17 August 2026 and introduced national decision-making policies. The retrieval index holds the version in force, and drafts never apply policy themselves. Weighing policy is the officer's job.

• Defra and Natural EnglandBiodiversity net gain
  →

  Applications must say whether the biodiversity gain condition applies. From 6 August 2026, new exemptions apply, including sites under 0.2 hectares with no on-site priority habitat affected, and the self-build exemption was removed. The exemption rules are code, dated by the application date, and the officer confirms any exemption claimed.

• MHCLGPlanning data standards (Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023)
  →

  The government can make approved planning data standards mandatory. The first came into force in 2026 for plan data. MHCLG's Digital Planning programme publishes national datasets on planning.data.gov.uk and funds council pilots through its PropTech Innovation Fund. Read constraints from planning.data.gov.uk and the authority's own layers, and build on the published standards so later mandates are an update, not a rebuild.

• GDSAlgorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS)
  →

  Mandatory for central government; councils publish voluntarily, and many do. Publish a record before go-live, saying what the tool checks and that an officer decides.

• ICOUK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018
  →

  Applications and comments include names, addresses and sometimes health information given in support of a case. That means a DPIA, processing in the UK, and careful redaction before documents and comments are published online. The AI can suggest redactions; an officer approves them.

On a phone, the table shows the platform you pick. Sovereign / on-prem means open, portable components you can run in your own data centre or with a UK or European provider; IONOS is shown as one example, and others exist. What sovereign cloud means →

• A named owner for the local list and the validation rules, with the two-year review built into the plan.
• An exception queue for applications the AI can't read, such as poor scans or unusual formats, with a clear owner.
• Override rules, so validation officers know when and how to disagree with a check, and their reasons are captured.
• A weekly review of a sample of checks and letters, including applications later found invalid or wrongly held up.
• Plain-English letter templates agreed with officers and tested with local agents, so applicants understand what to fix.
• Validation and case officers trained before go-live, including what the AI can't see on a drawing.
• An ATRS record published before go-live and updated when the tool changes.

1. 3 weeks

   Discovery

   Map today's validation and consultation process, measure the baseline, write the local list as rules, check GIS and back-office access, and pick householder applications first.

2. Gate · must be true to passBaseline agreed, rules signed off by the validation lead, data access confirmed, DPIA started.

3. 6–8 weeks

   Pilot

   Householder applications in shadow mode: the AI checks and drafts, officers validate as normal, and the two are compared.

4. Gate · must be true to passAccuracy within agreed limits, no extra requirements asked for, letters approved by officers, head of planning content.

5. 4–6 weeks

   Production

   Checks and draft letters go live for householder applications, with monitoring, support, a rollback plan and the ATRS record published.

6. Gate · must be true to passMonitoring, support model, rollback plan, officer training and ATRS record in place.

7. Ongoing

   Scale

   Add minor and then major applications, then consultation summaries, and reuse the pattern for building control and other consents.

8. Gate · must be true to passEach new application type passes the same pilot gate.

R ResponsibleA AccountableC ConsultedI Informed· not involved

Where I'd fit

1. 1

   Goes wrong

   The demo used a tidy architect's drawing set. Real householder plans are hand-drawn and scanned.

   How the design avoids it

   Pilot on last quarter's real applications, every channel, not a curated sample.

2. 2

   Goes wrong

   The AI asks for things the published local list doesn't require, and applicants dispute them.

   How the design avoids it

   Requirements come only from the published lists, as code, and every request cites its source.

3. 3

   Goes wrong

   Consultation summaries quietly drop comments that don't fit a theme.

   How the design avoids it

   Every comment is counted and linked, and the officer reads the originals. The summary is a guide, not a filter.

4. 4

   Goes wrong

   Personal data is published because the redaction suggestion was trusted without a check.

   How the design avoids it

   An officer approves every redaction, and the sample review includes published documents.

5. 5

   Goes wrong

   The local list changes and nobody updates the rules.

   How the design avoids it

   A named owner, a publication date on every version, and the two-year review in the plan.

1. Before end of 2026
   New national planning fees, then local fee setting

   The government's July 2026 response confirmed a national default fee schedule set at about 90% cost recovery, intended to take effect before the end of 2026 subject to Parliament, with regulations for local fee setting to follow. Keep fee rules as dated configuration, not code.

2. Late 2026–2027
   Biodiversity net gain for brownfield sites

   A consultation on a targeted exemption for some residential brownfield development closed on 10 June 2026, and the response is awaited. Keep the BNG exemption rules dated and separate so a new exemption is a configuration change.

3. 2026–2027
   More planning data standards made mandatory

   The first approved planning data standard became mandatory in 2026, for plan data. Expect more. Build on the published standards and the national planning data platform now.

4. 2027
   Government-built AI tools for planning

   The government has built a free tool that turns old planning records into data, and is testing a prototype that analyses incoming applications against policy and constraints, with any wider rollout depending on the evidence. Keep the design modular so a national tool can replace or sit beside a part of yours.

5. April 2027 to April 2029
   Local government reorganisation in England

   Most two-tier areas are being replaced by new unitary councils, with most vesting days in April 2028. Several local lists and back-office systems will become one. Keep each list as versioned rules so they can be compared and merged.