Last year we shared the news we had received funding to help us become a more modern and resilient council. We have been involved in the Future Council pilot and five nationally funded projects:
- Planning – making it easier for the public to engage with the planning process.
- Planning – reducing invalid planning applications
- Adult social care front door
- Income management system
- Platform low code capabilities for commercial and traded services
This series of articles summarises the work, what we have learnt and how it is helping us.
Spotlight on Planning
Project 1 Digital Planning Platform (Online Registers)
We wanted to find a better a way to easily track planning applications, either by individual applications, application type, or a map-based area defined by the user (for example a town or parish council area, or just your street). We wanted to give people a choice of how they receive updates and improve their experience of planning.
As part of the national Open Digital Planning Community we have worked alongside 12 other councils to encourage public engagement with planning and establish best practice for the sector. We worked with our system supplier (DEF), to design better online experiences, testing these with residents, planning agents and town and parish councils, learning how our customers would like to engage with the planning system.
We are now working with our supplier (DEF) to build a new online planning service based on this learning, with the aim of introducing it later this year. Customers will experience improvements including greater self-service, the ability to review monitor and comment on planning applications of interest, and easier tracking of applications.
Project 2 Reducing invalid planning applications received via Planning Portal
On average 50% of the planning applications submitted to Dorset Council are invalid on receipt, meaning that the decision-making process can’t start straight away. This causes frustration and cost for planning applicants their agents and the council.
We are working with the National Planning Portal and our supplier (DEF) to reduce the number of invalid planning applications we receive via the National Planning Portal. We want to make it easier for applicants to find out if they need planning consent, exactly what information is needed to apply and improve the way the information is passed through the system to reduce re-entering of information and back-and-forth correspondence.
This project will pilot new ways to submit the required information, for example by embedding an online biodiversity checklist, instead of the current paper form, improving the customer experience and council efficiency.
The national funding for planning projects has given us the opportunity to accelerate Dorset’s planning transformation work. It has allowed us to recruit additional resource, improve the way our customers engage with planning; and influence the national planning agenda. We have taken the learning from the Open Digital Planning Community to improve online engagement and consultation and explore the use of Responsible Artificial Intelligence in planning.
Dorset is now one of the largest planning authorities in the country and we’re continuing to build on our reputation as a leading planning authority.
Local Digital Declaration
To help us embed the principles we signed up to in the Local Digital Declaration and support our transformation work at Dorset Council, we have been part of five nationally funded projects.
The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have recently published their latest blog on how they will continue to support the sector with increasing digital maturity: Local Digital update: Adapting our approach to support the sector – DLUHC Digital (blog.gov.uk)
I have worked in communications for 25 years, first as a journalist and then in public and private sector public relations. From Southampton originally, I have lived in beautiful Dorset for the last two decades. My passion for Dorset has also turned into a passion for landscape photography. My other great loves are my family and Southampton Football Club.