Skip to main content

Introduction

We partnered with local authorities to transform England’s planning system through BOPS (Back Office Planning System), a user focused, data driven tool developed with planning officers. By embracing open data and standards, BOPS streamlines application processing, saving councils 30% of their time.

This collaborative effort, part of the Open Digital Planning programme, modernises the system for greater efficiency and transparency, with the beta already benefiting councils like Southwark and Buckinghamshire. From discovery to beta testing, our approach emphasises codesign and innovation to meet the evolving needs of planning in the UK.

Challenges

The primary challenge was transforming England and Wales’ planning system from a document-heavy, manual process to a digital, data-driven approach aligned with open standards. Ensuring interoperability across new and existing planning systems required integrating diverse datasets and addressing technical complexities.

Another challenge has been to engage with multiple stakeholders, including planning officers, councils and legal bodies, to design a system that meets various needs while adhering to government standards. Balancing the political, legal, and commercial pressures of the planning ecosystem also adds complexity to the project.

Additionally, the system has to handle the vast diversity of planning applications, ensuring it remains userfriendly while accommodating differences. Ensuring smooth collaboration across council teams and delivery partners is essential for success.

Lastly, demonstrating the value of the new system through measurable improvements, such as a 30% time reduction in application assessment was crucial for encouraging adoption and scalability.

Solutions

To address these challenges, we collaborated closely with planning officers, councils, and stakeholders to design BOPS around user needs. Using open data and common standards, we are ensuring the system can integrate seamlessly with existing and new planning tools, enabling interoperability across platforms.

We adopted an iterative approach. We started with discovery to understand user needs, prototyping in alpha, and are currently refining solutions in beta, focusing on specific application types initially before scaling. This approach helps to minimise risks and ensures a robust, adaptable system.

To navigate political, legal, and commercial challenges, we maintain transparent communication and work closely with product owners and subject matter experts. Regular user testing validates improvements, demonstrating enhanced efficiency and a more streamlined workflow for councils.

By demonstrating the system’s efficiency and scalability, we foster wider adoption while exploring additional use cases, like enforcement and building control, to expand the uses of BOPS.

Results

The BOPS (Back Office Planning System) has already delivered significant results, including a 30% time reduction in processing planning applications, as demonstrated by councils like Southwark. The beta version is now live and actively used by Buckinghamshire, Lambeth, and Southwark Councils, with more than 50 testing sessions and 19 council teams engaged. These efforts have streamlined planning workflows, saving time and enabling officers to focus on higher-value tasks.

Ongoing efforts focus on adapting BOPS to accommodate diverse planning application types and scaling its use to additional councils. Leveraging open data, we’ve built tools such as a map API to display nearby planning applications, highlighting BOPS’s potential for broader services like enforcement and building control. By continuing to collaborate with stakeholders and refine the system based on feedback, we aim to modernise England’s planning ecosystem, ensuring it is efficient, transparent, and scalable.

Unboxed have done really impressive work fostering an environment on this project where councils work together effectively to make an innovative product framed around their exact needs.

Stephen Barnes
Product Owner | Open Digital Planning

An innovation-led social enterprise

The directory is brought to you by the Digital Task Force for Planning, a not-for-profit organisation. Our ambition is to promote digital integration and advancement in Spatial Planning to tackle the grand challenges in the 21st Century.
Brought to you by:
Seed funded by: