The Pulse
UK Expands PlanAssist Trial to 15 Councils
The UK government is expanding its PlanAssist AI planning trial from three councils to 15 for 12 months. The tool assembles applications, local policies and site constraints for planning officers, who remain responsible for decisions.
AI.info Team · Written with AI · fact-checked ·
“This is what putting AI to work for the public looks like in practice. By slashing the time spent on routine planning tasks by more than half, we’re helping families get quicker answers while freeing up skilled planners to focus on the major developments that will get Britain building.”
Kanishka Narayan, AI Minister
The UK government announced on 30 October that its PlanAssist AI trial will expand to 15 councils, widening a test that began in Camden, Barnet and Dorset. The additional 12 councils will use the tool for 12 months as the government assesses how it performs at scale. The rollout covers councils in England; the announcement does not describe a UK-wide deployment.
PlanAssist adds 12 councils to its trial
The new participants are Ashford, Lambeth, Newcastle, Nottingham, Bristol, Cumberland, North Lincolnshire, Rochdale, Redbridge, South Gloucestershire, Stoke-on-Trent and Westminster. Together with the three councils involved in the initial testing, they bring the total to 15. The government says officers will use PlanAssist alongside their existing process during the expanded test.
PlanAssist gathers planning applications, local policies and site constraints in one place, then provides an evidence-backed initial assessment to help officers locate relevant information. The government says the system is intended to assist with routine householder applications, such as requests for extensions or loft conversions. It is not mandated software, and planning officers—not the AI tool—remain responsible for reviewing applications and making decisions.
Government cites a 58% reduction in task time
The government says early testing reduced the time spent on key planning tasks by 58%, and that this helped cut processing times for routine householder applications from eight weeks to four. Those are the figures cited in the announcement; it does not provide the underlying test sample, measurement method or results for each council. The 12-month expansion will test performance across a larger group of authorities, but the release does not set out a separate evaluation framework.
Householder applications account for nearly 70% of planning applications each year, according to the government. That volume gives the tool a large pool of routine work to support, while leaving officers to handle decisions and more complex cases. The government also says it intends to make PlanAssist available to every council in England by the end of 2027, subject to further testing.
AI trial accompanies new planning rules
The PlanAssist announcement appeared alongside wider changes to planning in England. A new National Scheme of Delegation took effect on 31 October, directing straightforward applications to planning officers instead of waiting for a committee slot. The government says that change is intended to free councillors to focus on more significant developments.
The same announcement says government-backed programmes have recruited 420 planners, above a 2024 manifesto commitment to recruit 300, and sets a target of 1,400 new recruits across the planning system by the end of this Parliament. The PlanAssist expansion is one part of that effort, but its immediate test is narrower: whether officers in 15 councils can use the system alongside their normal process to review routine applications faster. Officers retain the decision-making role throughout the trial.