Salford City Council’s planning department embarked on a digital transformation journey aimed at enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in managing planning applications. Over the course of four years, the department procured and implemented three cutting-edge software solutions: a cloud-based back-office system, an artificial intelligence module for planning validation from Agile Applications, and an intelligent document and plan analysis tool.
Before the transformation, Salford’s planning department operated with disparate systems, with application data stored in Case Management Software and documents managed through a separate document management solution. This manual integration process was time-consuming, with the validation and registration of a standard householder application taking approximately 40 minutes. Furthermore, basic checks of plans such as measuring distances, was cumbersome and some tools for analysing and comparing plans were not available to Planning Officers. Thereby impacting on the quality and speed of assessing plans, and ultimately the quality of the proposal.
In March 2023, Salford secured funding from the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) as part of the ‘Planning Software Improvement Fund’.
The fund invited Local Planning Authorities to apply for funding via a number of projects around adoption of new services, integration, and, in Salford’s case, ‘improve existing software products and integrations to service providers’. This integration aimed to streamline and automate processes in the validation of, and registration of applications as well as the analysis of submitted plans. Following the completion of the project, Salford achieved seamless integration across the Planning Portal, and the three software solution environments, resulting in significant efficiencies.
The integration of the Agile AI Validator into the other software solutions has drastically reduced the standard validation/registration time from 40 minutes to just 15 minutes for a standard householder application. AI Validator’s ability to seamlessly integrate with various back-end systems, enhancing flexibility and ensuring compatibility with different software environments provides planning authorities the opportunity to maximise AI adoption without changing their back-office solution, thus taking advantage of ground breaking technology with no risk or concerns or integration compatibility.
Anthony Stephenson, Development Manager, “As an authority that receives around 600 householder applications each year and almost 2,000 applications in total, this improvement has been transformative in enhancing efficiency and accuracy in processing planning applications. By focusing on process improvements and closely integrating their tools, we have created a more efficient working environment for all members of the technical team. In addition, the ability of Officers to quickly open, analyse and mark-up plans and save them into the back-office solution has greatly improved the speed and quality of assessment. The ability to utilise powerful tools quickly has ultimately led to improvements in the quality of development”.
Salford’s digital transformation journey exemplifies the power of integrating modern software solutions to streamline processes and drive efficiencies in planning departments and service delivery.
By leveraging artificial intelligence, cloud-based systems, and intelligent document analysis tools, Salford has not only significantly reduced processing times but also improved accuracy and user experience.
This case study serves as a testament to the benefits of strategic investment in digital solutions for public sector organisations and their stakeholders.
