England expands its PlanAssist AI trial to 15 councils

England announced it would expand its PlanAssist trial to 15 councils.

England’s housing ministry said on October 30 that PlanAssist, an AI tool for local planning teams, would expand from three councils to a 12-month trial involving 15. Camden, Barnet and Dorset took part in the initial testing. The additional authorities include Bristol, Newcastle, Nottingham and Westminster. The government intends to make the tool available to every council in England by the end of 2027, with the expanded trial providing evidence for that decision. [Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announcement](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/faster-planning-decisions-as-new-rules-and-ai-tackle-delays)

The work the tool is meant to assist

A routine householder application may require a planning officer to compare drawings, documents and local policy before reaching a conclusion. PlanAssist is designed to help officers assemble and assess the material. The government describes the tool as support for planners. The officer still needs to examine the relevant evidence and account for the reasoning behind a decision. [Original prototype announcement](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ai-tool-to-slash-planning-decision-times-as-government-accelerates-push-to-build-15-million-homes)

The October announcement combines the software trial with changes to how decisions are assigned to officers or committees. These reforms affect different parts of the workflow. A tool can help an officer locate material in an application, while a delegation rule determines who has authority to decide it. If processing times fall during the trial, those changes and other investments in planning staff will matter when interpreting the results. [October planning package](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/faster-planning-decisions-as-new-rules-and-ai-tackle-delays)

What a larger trial can reveal

Using the tool across more councils will expose it to different local policies, record systems and ways of preparing case files. A useful test is whether an officer can trace each suggested finding to the specific document or policy provision that supports it. Another is whether staff can correct mistakes without having to repeat the rest of the assessment manually. These questions matter most for applications that look routine at first and turn out to have a relevant local constraint.

The government associates the program with a goal of cutting routine planning decision times. The 15-council trial is a concrete expansion, while the size and consistency of any time saving still need to be measured. Time to a decision, correction rates and whether the system reduces or shifts officers’ review work would give a fuller account than the number of documents it processes. [October planning package](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/faster-planning-decisions-as-new-rules-and-ai-tackle-delays)