DM Software Pathfinder project update #2
Covering 1–16 February 2022
Welcome back to the second instalment of our DM Software Pathfinder project updates.
To recap, the eight Pathfinder projects are each led by a different LPA and will be exploring different opportunities within their development management services.
The projects kicked off on 1 February and will wrap up at the end of April. Read Project Update #1 to get up to speed on what each project is working on and what they’re hoping to achieve, or watch the video from the project kick-off event.
As well as via these monthly Project Updates, the teams will share their progress at monthly online Show and Tells. To join our next Show and Tell on Tuesday 1 March from 2pm - 4pm, email DigitalPlanningTeam@levellingup.gov.uk and we will add you to the invite list.
Our Pathfinder projects
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council: Automating the publication of planning service performance data
Main back-office software provider: Idox
We are reviewing the options available in the use of Power BI and the best solution to meet our customers needs, which is progressing as follows:
Data Connection: We have determined that an initial connection to the data can be established by PowerBI accessing the same data feed used for supplying the tables we use in MS Access, via an Oracle client. This has required us to upgrade to 64-bit client software, which we have tested and is working as expected. This will be effective for our proof of concept, and we will then need to address the design of our interim and final solutions. One option in that final solution will be to use PowerBI Gateway.
User Requirements: We will talk to planners and their managers to establish what data would be valuable to organise, manage and measure their workloads. We will agree an initial prototype that we hope can be developed during the project, and generate a list of possible dashboards for future development.
Licencing: We will use PowerBI Pro for the members of our tech team to illustrate how the data and dashboards can be shared.
Project Planning: A full plan has now been produced to ensure we maintain progress throughout. Internal governance is provided by a fortnightly exec team meeting supported by a weekly tech team meeting.
Documentation: A structure of the output report of the project is in development; our intention is to contribute to this report as the project progresses.
Colchester Borough Council: Automatically checking planning constraints via GIS data
Main back-office software provider: NEC
In our first workshop, the team clearly set out our aspirations to reduce incorrect or incomplete applications entering the system and discussed ideas about how this could be achieved.
We quickly decided to focus on non-professional applicants and how we could simplify the process for those who may only use the service once in their lifetime.
We want to demystify the application process and make it far more accessible.
The logical place for us to start is the beginning of the application process and how the applicant can be led down the right path from the start. A triage process supported by reducing text, advice and guidance services as offered by third parties, and perhaps a local chatbot capability, could ensure the applicant was clearly informed and helped along the way.
We believe that an option for the applicant to start from within a map will be far more intuitive than the traditional way of opening an application form so we will be reviewing the most appropriate options.
London Borough of Harrow Council: Improving the processing of consultation responses
Main back-office software provider: NEC
We brought the Planning and Digital teams together to review the draft ‘as is’ plan for how consultee letters are generated from a public facing perspective and then brought into the back-office systems.
This identified where our pain points were, establishing the areas for development to ensure the focus was on the areas that would provide the most benefit. This information was shared with NEC, who are working on the development of an initial prototype which they aim to demo to us on the 16 February.
NEC has also been preparing a demonstration for us to look at their out-of-the-box product for statutory consultations, so we can start to bring together a clear ‘to be’ vision of the customer/officer process flow for the consultee receipt and response method.
This will be key in identifying any areas where we need to change how customers engage with the system, as well as how planning officers process and monitor consultee traffic.
London Borough of Havering: Designing a digital pre-application advice service
Main back-office software provider: Ocella
The project is now underway with the supplier and all internal contributors mobilised.
We are an agile multidisciplinary team who collaborate via stand-ups and weekly Sprint patterns. We use collaborative workspace in Teams and a Trello Kanban Board across key components.
We will showcase the D365 Integrated Customer Form product at our second Show and Tell for the Pathfinder community.
The Requirements Specification covering all integration design and business rules is in progress.
We currently have a PowerBI Specialist receiving training from an Ocella Developer, and the Entity Relationship Diagram for Ocella data structures has been completed.
We’re currently facing some challenges, including:
- all “old” Oracle Report Builder Document Items in Ocella must be converted or removed from software, which is in progress
- Ocella system integrations for multiple suppliers must be reconnected post-migration, and again this is in progress.
North Devon District Council: Improving the quality of planning data
Main back-office software provider: DEF
We have communicated the feedback from our software supplier DEF, and our revised plan has been broken down into 3 tranches to test the resource availability of our internal teams. They have confirmed that they will be able to resource the first tranche of the plan.
On Monday 14 February we had our kick-off meeting with DEF. We also had a kick-off meeting with the Housing and Community Safety Programme on the 11 February, to ensure that the wider programme understands the project.
Our Planning Manager has been meeting with many Town and Parish Councils and has been discussing the proposed improvements.
Nottingham City Council: Automating the reporting of planning data (PS1/2 returns)
Main back-office software provider: Idox
In the past couple of weeks, we have been busy procuring, installing and receiving training on the various software components required to support our Pathfinder Project.
We have procured the IDOX Uniform Enterprise modules for Development Management and SNN and installed these modules into our test environment.
A number of our planning and system administration staff have undertaken basic user training for the software, with more advanced training due next week.
A draft timetable has been agreed with IDOX for further training and software development work required throughout the project.
We have also installed the FME Server within our production environment and have received a comprehensive two-day FME server authoring training programme. This element of the project is more self-directed and will be planned out over the coming weeks.
Things seem to be going well and we are happy with our progress!
Sevenoaks District Council: Enabling better access to Tree Preservation Order information
Main back-office software provider: Idox
Our project will be improving access to information about protected trees.
The application process for carrying out works to protected trees is similar across most councils, as there is a standard form available to download on the Planning Portal. However the customer experience of obtaining accurate information about trees is not.
We have requested support from Idox to publish copies of Tree Preservation Orders along with the creation of a link from our website to an online application form. The application and any accompanying documents will download to our document management system, allowing us to acknowledge and determine the application.
We’re currently reviewing internal options to use the integration facilities for fetching and submitting data using the Idox MyUniform site to develop our forms.
Once live on our website in the coming weeks, we hope other councils will take a leaf out of our book and implement similar improvements for their customers.
Tewkesbury Borough Council: Creating a planning application tracker service for applicants
Main back-office software provider: Idox
Our project to build a ‘planning application tracker’ will give applicants and agents the ability to keep track of the progress of their planning application, as well as being able to provide them with information on expected lead times for it to move to the next stage. The tracker will reduce the need to contact planning officers for these simple updates; freeing up their time to respond to more complex enquiries and focusing on progressing planning applications.
Our planning team uses Idox for case management and document management, and the project team has had initial discussions with them about what we are trying to achieve. Working with our planning team we have:
- Identified the data needed for the planning application tracker and where this is stored in Enterprise.
- Mapped out our planning application process to identify which key stages of an application need to be displayed on the tracker.
- Scoped out requirements to identify the necessary features, including where automated alerts will be sent, and what success will look like for our project.
The next stage for us is to finalise how the data can be extracted from the database and to start looking at the user experience, including how it will look and feel.
Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to follow Local Digital on Medium or on Twitter for more updates from our #DigitalPlanning Pathfinder projects.
