Every year, local planning authorities make hundreds of thousands of planning decisions. But right now, that decision data exists in dozens of different formats across different systems, making it difficult to use, compare and learn from. 

We're working to change that by creating a planning decision data specification – a common standard that will make planning decision data consistent, accessible and useful across England. In a recent blog post, we shared what we learnt from our initial user research sessions about the problems people face and why standardised decision data is so critical to solving them.

Why this matters 

Consistent data created at the decision stage will benefit everyone working in the planning system and beyond:

It will help local planning authorities publish consistent decision information on the public register and spend less time on manual data returns, and more time making planning decisions. Meeting statutory publication requirements will become simpler and more automated.  It will also give authorities and developers a clear line of sight over conditions, from the point they are imposed through to discharge and compliance, making follow-on actions more transparent and easier to manage.  It will enable more data to be viewed nationally so that people can see patterns, identify bottlenecks, and make evidence-based improvements to policy and practice.  Open, standardised data creates opportunities for new digital planning tools and services, including those we haven't even imagined yet. 

What we're standardising 

Our definition of decision stage data captures everything needed to understand and act on the outcome of a planning application: 

what the decision is: the outcome (for example: approved, rejected) and the reasons  what conditions apply: details of any conditions imposed  how and why the decision was reached: the process leading to the outcome  what the decision applies to: details of the application or proposal 

How we're building this 

Unlike our work standardising the planning application submission stage where we could build on existing application forms, we're creating this new national specification from scratch. The approach we’re taking to achieve this is to: 

design collaboratively to understand real needs by working directly with planning authorities, applicants, consultees and policy colleagues in our data standards community, to understand what decision data people actually want and need to use  build incrementally by only including elements where we have clear evidence of need  work iteratively and in the open. We’re sharing draft specifications early so we can iterate and improve them based on people’s feedback. 

The specifications are currently informed by 5 main sources:  

legislation (particularly Articles 35 and 40 of the Planning Orders) statistical returns on the planning process that local planning authorities have to complete   user research interviews  MHCLG requirements  related cross-government processes like appeals with the Planning Inspectorate and local land charges with HM Land Registry 

Progress so far 

We're building the data model piece by piece, with each element traceable back to user needs. 

Decision notices 

We started with the core legal requirement – the decision notice itself. We've defined fields for linking to the application record, recording timings such as the decision date on the notice and the date when the application was first received by the local planning authority, to track whether deadlines were met, and capturing who made the decision – whether it was by a planning officer, a planning committee at the local planning authority or by the Planning Inspectorate on appeal. 

Conditions 

We've been looking at how conditions attach to decisions and can be discharged by one. For example, understanding whether conditions attached to a permission have been met, allowing development to proceed or continue in compliance with specific requirements. 

What's next 

While we have made solid progress on what is the decision and what conditions apply, we're still working on the rest of the picture, including the application log capturing the steps leading to the decision, such as consultation periods and time extensions, the overall application status (including withdrawals and appeals), and the remaining data from the local authority statistical returns. 

Join us 

This work covers complex territory – from initial submissions through to post-decision actions like condition discharge. We're taking it step by step, tackling what we're confident about first, then using further research to understand more needs and model the more complicated scenarios. We're continuing our user research and are keen to speak to people who have valuable insights they can share.  

We need your help: 

Volunteer for research: if you have deep experience with decision notices, planning conditions or specific statutory consultee requirements, please join the data standards community to get involved. The next session is on 21 January 2026, at 10.30am.  Explore our backlog: you can see what we're working on and the challenges we're tackling on our public project board.  Share your perspective: even if you can't commit to regular involvement, we'd love to hear from you. What decision data do you struggle to access? What would make your work easier? The more perspectives we hear from now, the better the standard will work for everyone. 

This work is part of the Digital Planning programme. For more information about the Digital Planning programme, follow us on LinkedIn to stay connected, and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.