In November we shared details of 5 pilots testing new data standards for planning applications. These pilots bring together local planning authorities (LPAs), software suppliers and the Planning Portal, to see how proposed standards work in practice.
Why this work matters
When someone applies for planning permission, information flows between multiple systems – from the applicant, through an application submission service such as the Planning Portal, into the local planning authority’s planning software, to be determined.
Currently information is stored in different ways by different systems. We are creating a data standard which can structure planning application information in a consistent way so that each system can exchange and share data in the same way, making the planning system more consistent and efficient.
Testing the data standards
We have now completed phase 1 of our work to test the data standards in practice. This phase focused on understanding how well the draft specifications align with real planning systems, real data, and real local authority workflows. The purpose of phase 1 was simple. We needed evidence of the impact of the proposed specifications on current technology and processes. We needed to know what fits against their systems, what partly fits, and what does not yet fit. We needed to understand the operational implications. And we needed a shared picture across LPAs, suppliers, and MHCLG before attempting any implementation activity.
During November and December 2025, our 5 pilot partnerships examined the draft data specifications field by field. They looked at what the standards propose compared to what their systems currently do.
Suppliers completed early mapping and began exploring the practical impacts of adopting the specifications. LPAs analysed the specifications against their systems and planning processes. The Planning Portal provided complementary mapping and validation insights.Common themes emerged quickly, including how timestamps should be handled, how addresses should be structured and differences between regional requirements and national standards.
These issues need to be resolved before the standards can be implemented widely.
The outcome of this work is a clearer, more grounded understanding of the specification. We now have evidence rather than assumptions. They are all captured on an issues log. We can identify where change is straightforward, where it requires system rework, and where policy or validation rules need refinement. Most importantly, all partners are in agreement the specifications are workable, and the work has allowed us to understand what needs to happen next.
Mary Lester, Service Designer in the Transformation, Customer and Cultural Services team, at Dorset Council said:
“Phase 1 really helped us, and our supplier, DEF, get to grips with the standards in detail, so we could look at the true scale and type of issues that would come from switching to the new standard.
“We now have a much clearer view of what can be solved within the systems relatively simply, and which problems need wider discussion – and we are using what we learnt in the first phase to target the trickier issues and themes in phase 2.”
Phase 1 has also generated some useful questions. What does compliance actually mean in practice? How should national and regional variants coexist? How do we manage historic data? These questions are being explored now in phase 2.
What happens next
Phase 2, which is running now until the end of February 2026, is focusing on impact assessment, estimating the efforts, exploring feasibility and and developing realistic implementation options.
Suppliers are refining their analysis and estimating the development work needed to support the standards LPAs are continuing to engage their planning and internal teams to understand the implications The Data Design team in MHCLG’s Digital Planning programme, will update the specifications based on feedback and co-ordinate across all the partners.Get involved
This work is being shaped by collaboration between LPAs, suppliers and planning professionals. The quality of analysis and openness across the partnership has put us in a strong position to progress.
MHCLG’s role in this phase has been to convene, coordinate and create the conditions for meaningful analysis across a complex landscape. This work sits at the intersection of local authority practice, commercial software constraints, national platforms and policy intent. We have focused on bringing these groups together, maintaining a shared understanding of the purpose of the pilot specifications, and ensuring that feedback from each perspective is surfaced, understood and reconciled.
Join the data standards community if you want to help shape the planning applications data specifications. You can sign up and find information, updates and relevant links about this work on the planning applications submissions project homepage.
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