Unlocking planning innovation: 150 brilliant minds collaborate in Leeds 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Artificial Intelligence, Digital Planning, Ways of working
Teams collaborating at the hackathon

Innovation was sparked at the Local Government Innovation Hackathon, where 150 planners, technologists and digital leaders collaborated to solve real planning challenges. MHCLG proudly co-organised the event with Government Digital Service, Incubator for AI and Open Digital Planning, reimagining planning services through this hands-on approach.

Advancing digital planning: Open Digital Planning’s first end-to-end product pilots

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The first-ever end-to-end digital planning product pilots have been launched across four local planning authorities. The pilots integrate the new products into a unified system to streamline the planning process. Early results are promising and demonstrate how digital innovation is creating a more efficient, transparent planning system for both local authorities and applicants.

Funding Service: behind the scenes as a grant relationship manager 

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two people working on a laptop together

From launching their second grant 2 years ago to 5 grants in a single week, the MHCLG Funding Service has come a long way. Hear from grant relationship manager Craig Bevington on how the team supports cost-effective, consistent and user-focused grant delivery.

Exploring approaches for using GOV.UK One Login in local government: join our discovery 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Local Digital
A person using a laptop with the screen showing the One Login homepage

The way citizens access public services is evolving, and GOV.UK One Login, a secure and unified sign-in system, is central to this transformation. The Local Digital team is launching a discovery phase to understand how One Login could benefit local government by addressing challenges in identity checks and authentication. Learn more and find out how …

Digital Planning: Get involved validating the baseline planning application data specifications

Posted by: , and , Posted on: - Categories: Data, Digital Planning
An illustrative image showing digital tools

As part of our work to modernise England's planning system we have been collaborating with over 40 organisations to draft new planning application data specifications which will help to revolutionise how planning data is structured and exchanged between local authorities and software providers. Whether you're a planning officer, developer, or technology provider, we’re now seeking …

Local Digital’s next steps with Tom Smith, Director for Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics 

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Tom Smith and team during workshop in Darlington

Tom Smith, Director of the AI and Advanced Analytics Directorate at MHCLG, highlights the push for AI adoption, digital transformation and cyber resilience in councils, and the exciting opportunities to make progress in these areas through the work of Local Digital.

Digital Planning: Learning about resilience, cohesion and trust at the 25th Belgo-British Conference 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Digital Planning, PropTech
Lou Welham at the 25th annual Belgo-British Conference

Innovative pilots funded by the Digital Planning PropTech (property technology) Innovation Fund have given us key insights about building citizen trust, community cohesion and bridging generational divides. We were able to share these learnings at the recent 25th Belgo-British Conference, and come away with a few more.

Very common tools: what we’ve learnt whilst improving SharePoint

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A graphic with the words: SharePoint, library, website and archive written on it.

The Common Tools as a Service team is responsible for building standardised, reliable and reusable tools and platforms for everyone in MHCLG. They help teams to be more efficient, deliver quickly and reduce operational costs. In this post, they share what they're doing to make SharePoint pages easier to navigate and more accessible. 

Funding Service: How we transformed Delta based on user needs  

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A screenshot of the Delta homepage on GOV.UK.

Delta is the main platform MHCLG uses to collect data and make payments. It helps the department make policy decisions, release national statistics and process payments to local authorities.  Read how the Funding Service transformed Delta based on user needs.