Understanding the challenges within the planning service in Wales

Our objective was to recommend sustainable changes for improved planning services in Wales. We focused on using digital solutions to support these changes.

To achieve this, we aimed to:

• understand the current process
• engage the right stakeholders
• identify key areas for improvement

Planning in Wales is complex. After talking to key stakeholders, we found various issues across the whole planning system:

• lack of resources – difficulty in recruiting and retaining experts
• inefficient IT systems
• inconsistent systems across different local planning authorities
• complex policies and information difficult to understand
• poor quality of planning applications
• challenges sharing information with the public
• lack of feedback mechanisms
• public distrust
• fees not covering application costs

Addressing these challenges is essential to make the planning system in Wales more user-friendly.

The team structured the project into 3 phases:

1. Pre-discovery
2. Discovery
3. Alpha

The team are currently in alpha. 

For alpha, the team will focus on the pre-application phase of the planning process. We’re partnering with the Welsh Government and three local authorities, Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, and Gwynedd.

The goals for this phase include:

• gaining a clear understanding of the pre-application process in these authorities
• examining how the pre-application stage connects to the whole planning process
• identifying the needs of both local planning authorities and applicants
• pinpointing pain points within the process
• defining a minimum viable product to tackle the key issues

Following this, the team is looking to make sure designs or content created can also be shared wider to support planning across Wales. 

The team will be working in the open and sharing their learnings through this process.

Pre-discovery

In the pre-discovery phase, we conducted desktop research to understand the existing planning system. We looked at different local council planning websites to understand how they work. We also identified the key stakeholders in planning. 

We met planning experts to understand more. The team attended the Digital Planning Winter School in Cardiff to network and find out about new digital planning tools to improve the service.

The core team had a meeting with the Planning Policy Manager, Neil Hemmington, from Welsh Government to decide our next steps.

We agreed the focus should be on making the planning application process better.

Discovery

In discovery, we worked with:

• Welsh Government
• Local planning authorities
• Royal Town Planning Institute
• Welsh Local Government Association

We looked at the user journey to apply for planning permission. From their first contact with the planning service, until they received a decision.

We then mapped the steps in the planning process. This helped us understand how it works more clearly.

The team also assessed the Planning Applications Wales portal for usability and accessibility.

To simplify the planning process for everyone involved, we identified some areas for improvement:

• develop clear, step-by-step guidance using plain language to help applicants and planning agents
• standardise planning policies and processes across local authorities to reduce confusion 
• update training to ensure planning officers understand and apply policies and legislation
• review existing legislation and policies to remove unnecessary complexity
• establish a system for continuous reviews of the planning process, incorporating stakeholder feedback

If you’d like to learn more about the project or get involved, email user.research@digitalpublicservices.gov.wales.