How to improve public technology markets: taking a systems approach in local planning

How to improve public technology markets: taking a systems approach in local planning

I gave a talk at the Service Design in Government conference last month on how the MHCLG Digital Planning Programme is addressing market challenges in planning and local government technology.

I reflected on what we’ve delivered over the past few years and the lessons we’ve learned along the way. I hope that these five ‘takeaways’ might be helpful to other government programmes exploring similar challenges.?

Design alternatives, innovate openly and set precedents
Build cross-sector partnerships and spaces of belonging
Support the first steps towards change
Work with the system to change the system
Create the means to accelerate and enforce change

(This is a long-ish read, so skip to the section you find most relevant; though I would stress that we’re taking a whole-system approach ??)?

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Planning and local government technology

Digital services in 2024 should be effortless to use and make people’s life and work easier. But services for planning applications often frustrate users. Members of the public struggle to make sense of planning rules. Data is not readily accessible to support deep insights and improved service delivery. And it’s difficult for new tech businesses to enter the market.

Meanwhile simple errors, such as a missing scale bar or arrow pointing north on a site plan, render a planning application ‘invalid’ before it can be assessed. This affects around 50% of cases and can require days of council officer time to resolve. Only then can the application be assessed.

The current market is typical of local government technology. It is made up of a relatively small number of providers and software that, in many cases, no longer meets modern technology standards. Well design planning services have so much to offer.

The new government aims to build 1.5 million homes in the next 5 years, and already points to 200 ‘stalled sites’ where development has halted. Yet planning teams spend a disproportionate amount of time doing admin-heavy work to stay on top of application backlogs; time that might be better spent tackling the strategic planning issues of the day.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves Vows to Fix Broken Planning System for Housebuilding - Bloomberg

How might we, across government...

  • Improve the technology and data market for planning
  • Accelerate planning decisions
  • Reduce the burden on planning teams

MHCLG’s Digital Planning Programme has taken an iterative approach to our interventions. We learn from what works and iterate as needed.

The following sections summarise five main lessons that could be useful starting points for other government teams thinking about systems change, market improvement and digital transformation at scale, particularly in decentralised contexts.

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1. Design alternatives, innovate openly and set precedents

What we did

We began by finding and supporting existing work. The Future of Planning programme led by the Future Cities (now Connected Places) Catapult and the ‘RIPA’ and ‘BOPS’ projects supported by MHCLG’s Local Digital Fund meant that a coalition was already exploring what a more flexible and modern software ecosystem might look like. These projects coincided with the National Planning Reform agenda in 2020, giving impetus and further funding for the creation of new digital products.

Fast-forward a few years and four products are now being adopted by councils:

  1. PlanX [formerly ‘RIPA’]: a content management system that planning officers use to build public-facing services to help people find out whether they needed planning permission, to apply for pre-application advice, to submit a planning or building control application, to report a breach in planning.
  2. BOPS: a Back-Office Planning System used by planning officers to process decisions.
  3. Digital Site Notice: a service for the public to comment on planning applications.
  4. Digital Planning Register: a place where planning decisions are published and can be searched for and viewed publicly.

Buckinghamshire Council's 'Find Out If You Need Planning Permission' service

As a central government team, we work in a networked way. We provide funding to Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to deliver the products; we establish an effective environment for collaboration and co-design; and we contribute to product strategy, providing direction when necessary.

At times we have insisted, for example, that a minimum number of LPA representatives take on product owner roles in each of the delivery teams. This ensures that the needs of planning teams – those at the coalface and the users of these products – are front and centre of the design process.

The teams work in the open via Show and Tells, public communications and sharing research and code.

The London Borough of Camden's Digital Site Notice

What we learned

This is not an intervention led by central government. It’s led by the core users (and purchasers) of these services who are best placed to spot opportunities. By working so closely together we gain countless insights that inform our programme strategy, such as key intervention points and barriers to change.

As a result, when we talk to MHCLG policy teams and others in the industry, we do so from a position of knowledge and credibility. And we can demonstrate what best-in-class services look like to Ministers and others across the sector.

Our open innovation approach has caught the imagination of many, but at present it’s difficult to point to clear examples where the existing market has lifted-and-shifted code directly.

The important precedents we have set along the way include:

  • Demonstrating that Local Authorities can work together to design shared solutions.
  • That these services can launch into live use.
  • That time savings (36% performance improvements to date) and service improvements for users can be realised.


2. Build cross-sector partnerships and spaces of belonging

What we did

The PlanX and BOPS projects helped to coalesce a coalition of the willing that has organically developed into a community for change: Open Digital Planning.

We initially funded several types of projects: not only ‘greenfield’ open-source products, but also improvement projects for LPAs to work with existing software providers. The different Local Planning Authority (LPA) teams experienced similar challenges and pushed us to provide more opportunities for connection.

We responded by creating more spaces for knowledge sharing online and in-person. The positive feedback and benefits we've been seeing prompted us to intentionally design and run a community for LPAs in partnership with MHCLG.

Members of the Open Digital Planning community at a Community Day in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire

Open Digital Planning establishes a new relationship between central and local government, and between different local authorities. Community members support each other with common challenges and share their insights with MHCLG which informs our programme direction.

There is a ‘co-ordination overhead’ in any work like this, and it’s a role that we have stepped into. We facilitate the creation of a shared vision, values, and a culture that welcomes everyone’s contributions and keeps unhelpful power dynamics to a minimum.

Despite being initiated by local government and co-ordinated from the centre, Open Digital Planning is deliberately positioned as outside of central government and not owned by any single authority.

There are currently 107 LPAs within ODP. Each has a different focus: co-designing new software, PropTech innovation projects, or improving the digital and data maturity of their planning service.


What we learned

We’ve leaned into our role as a convener to reach a wider group of LPAs. We’re not here to tell anyone what to do, we’re here to support LPAs to embrace the benefits of digital planning by working with them.

Don't underestimate the power of human connection. Time and again we hear that the biggest benefit to LPA teams is access to likeminded professionals across the country - many just a Slack message away - trying to solve the same challenges. It’s common to one council post a call for help and to receive a response within minutes, saving days of time spent searching for a way forward.

‘Funding a community’ is not something that fits neatly into a business case for the Treasury. What is the ROI, after all? In our case it is a mechanism for scaling benefits across the country.


3. Support the first steps towards change

What we did

Our colleagues in Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) often ask us where to begin with digital transformation. We've worked in close collaboration with many project teams to identify where people experience the biggest barriers. We run a support service to prepare organisations for change so that they can make the most of modern technology, data and working practices.

Common barriers include establishing a team, preparing contracts, building digital and data capabilities and improving and publishing data. Importantly, this should all be done before LPAs get started with new digital tools or more complex projects.

Our ‘improvement service’ now looks like this:

The digital planning service improvement journey MHCLG's team runs for Local Planning Authorities

LPAs that are part of Open Digital Planning get access to a Resource Hub – essentially an intranet site –? when they join. A Community Manager (part of my team in MHCLG) introduces them to the ODP Slack community and is on hand to offer bespoke support as needed. LPAs are invited to in-person and virtual welcome activities.

We have developed a Digital Planning Maturity Assessment service. LPA teams take a whole department view to baseline their digital maturity in seven thematic areas and to create an action plan using a template we provide and pre-populate after processing the assessment results.

We support different modes of learning and development: through connections and shared experiences; project work; and structured learning opportunities. These range from virtual learning sessions and masterclasses, and in-person training days – on and offline – that we either deliver or signpost.

Alongside this we introduce them to MHCLG’s Planning Data team and the National Planning and Housing Data Platform. We require LPAs to publish four locally held datasets to the platform and to national standards. This is not always straightforward as LPAs must overcome issues with data quality – sometimes digitising whole datasets – and obstacles to publication. We run dedicated working groups so that LPAs can give MHCLG direct feedback to support improvements.

Screengrabs from the Digital Planning Maturity Assessment guidance, form and results.

What we learned

The Digital Planning Maturity Assessment creates space for shared conversations about the digital future of planning services in each LPA, and has been well received. It gives us an aggregate snapshot of the results, which informs our future support.

Not all future roles will exist. ‘Digital planners’ are uncommon, but they do emerge. Developing the capability of LPA team members increases the likelihood of successful projects and equips teams with skills for the future.

The most important first steps will vary depending on the timing, context, policy area and market challenges. Each year we welcome more LPAs into our collaborative projects, which has helped us to design appropriate support.

Other teams thinking of doing something similar should work closely with a wide range of stakeholders to continuously develop their understanding of their problem space. For us, these steps help to demystify digital planning for local authorities and de-risk our grant funding.


4. Work with the system to change the system

What we did

To improve any market, we need to work with the entire ecosystem. There’s no way a single organisation can do this on their own – even central government. While we fund alternatives and encourage open innovation, we also work with existing market players.

Our Industry Working Group brings together representatives from the relevant technology suppliers in a forum for frank conversations. It gives both central government and the supplier community a chance to share insights and to give early sight of forthcoming policy and legislation.

We also support improvement projects with established suppliers. In 2022/23 we funded a series of integrations projects aimed at supporting a more open and interoperable market. These have delivered some encouraging anecdotal results.

Elsewhere in the Digital Planning Programme, the PropTech Innovation Fund has offered opportunities for LPAs to pilot emerging technologies with start-ups and small-medium enterprises on specific challenges such as public engagement and land assessment.

Graphic supporting an Expression of Interest for Round 1 of the PropTech Innovation Fund.

What we learned

We could have been more proactive sooner. The need to test and prove value in an early project phase was initially a distraction from building effective ways of working with the existing market.

'Funding and supporting existing work' [see point 1] need not be exclusive of the existing system. Other teams and programmes should understand their stakeholder ecosystem from the start and be proactive in building relationships.

The existing system is a broad church. We’ve had to balance the need to be tightly focused on our goals with the opportunity to better engage others in the industry, such as other government departments and arm’s-length bodies. Ultimately every programme team has to make choices based on capacity and priorities.

Find out what motivates or compels people, and get the timing right. Legislation is an important motivator. For some it is funding, for others it is a different incentive, and many stakeholders simply want to be listened to and to be part of the change that is happening.


5. Create the means to accelerate and enforce change

What we did

To date our approach has been to incentivise the most forwarded thinking organisations. This may only work up to a point. Beyond that, there will be LPAs, companies and other public sector bodies who lag behind.

To embed change we have taken powers in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (LURA) to mandate that LPAs publish planning data to standards set by MHCLG and use approved software in their services. We are currently designing one of the first standards – for planning applications – in consultation with the sector. Once published, we will set a deadline for everyone to comply.

This work is supported by public digital infrastructure. The National Planning and Housing Data Platform currently aggregates over 90 different planning datasets in standardised formats so that they can be re-used elsewhere. It also publishes standards and guidance nationally. We are exploring how other elements of public digital infrastructure, such as a single points of integration, could accelerate and simplify the adoption of new data standards.

The National Planning and Housing Data Platform: planning.data.gov.uk

Public digital infrastructure is one of the great underinvested areas of the internet-era. While our primary use case relates to smoothing over integration and standardisation challenges between different planning software modules, there are many more opportunities for better user experiences, third party integrations and real-time data insights.

Our intent is to establish the underlying conditions on which the market should operate; to provide certainty for buyers and sellers and to offer clarity and routes in for new market entrants.

What we learned

The means to accelerate and enforce change will vary depending on the context. And various levers can be used: from legal and contractual through to technical and behavioural. Central government has a unique position and should be bold in exploring the possibilities.

Legislation is central government's biggest lever. Digital programme teams should build relationships with the relevant policy teams and understand how they can inform forthcoming bills. For us, being a digital delivery programme in the same directorate as the corresponding policy teams has been hugely beneficial.

The nature of the legislation we have taken, where the primary legislation is broad and detail can follow in secondary legislation, leaves us with the flexibility to be iterative and responsive further down the line.

Photo taken at the most recent Open Digital Planning Open Day in Newcastle, October 2024.

Reflections

We're still an in-flight programme. We haven't nailed everything and we are always learning.

These practical reflections aim to help other government teams looking to improve public services in complex environments.

But they do not tell the whole story. The human qualities required are just as important. Grit, resilience and determination are needed throughout a complex change programme. In our case, we have seen numerous changes in Ministers and Senior Responsible Officers. We've delivered countless briefings, requiring us to sharpen our message each time to maintain support.

Irrespective of changes in personnel, we regularly encounter scepticism. Wider societal and market trends towards technology and data might suggest one thing, but arguments need to be made on policy grounds and with responsible use of public money in mind. Focusing on ultimate outcomes is essential.


A changing role for government?

The Policy Lab outlines several different styles of government action. Our approach does not neatly fit into these. I see us working in two different ways, which seem to chime with some of the literature on mission-based government.

For me the emerging roles that we perform are as a Systems Leader and an Ecosystem Orchestrator. I hope to unpack these more in the future and I’m keen to connect with other teams in the public sector who are thinking along similar lines.

Theo Blackwell MBE

Chief Digital Officer for London

1 个月

This is excellent- so many lessons for other areas of local government technology (I’d say market but it’s a market like choice of shops at an airport is a market).

Laura Smith

Helping people make sense of complex things | lead designer | user researcher | social enterprise director | charity trustee

1 个月

Thanks so much for sharing Matt Wood-Hill , it's definitely worth the long read. I love this quote: "The PlanX and BOPS projects helped to coalesce a coalition of the willing that has organically developed into a community for change: Open Digital Planning." I learnt a lot about how to create the conditions for change from working on BOPS and as part of ODP.

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