ADD2690 Planning London Datahub – Data visualisation platform

1.1    The Planning London DataHub collects and combines three key data sources for the planning system, namely: (i) the data supplied by the applicant as part of the planning application (ii) business process data from planning authorities’ back office systems and (iii) the starts and completions data provided annually by boroughs. The collection of data started in November 2020, and it now collects data on c.120,000+ applications each year.
1.2    This data service is central to many services that the GLA provides, including being a core data feed for the infrastructure mapping service; demography services and a key source of monitoring data for the London Plan. It provides vital insights for developing the GLA Planning service and our associated work to understand how London is changing. The data also forms an open dataset which is used extensively by the public and private sector.
1.3    The GLA Planning team have built a number of dashboards and systems to enable the data to be used by boroughs as well as GLA staff, and it has become a core resource in the delivery and monitoring of services. However, there is potential for the DataHub to be further unlocked for Londoners more widely, by providing a visual resource that would enable people without any data expertise to access and interrogate the data. This will allow communities and any other interested parties to interrogate data at a local level as well as monitor developments as they come through the planning process.
 

2.1    This decision would progress the building of a platform/website where Londoners will be able to view, explore and interrogate data that is coming from the planning system so that they can better understand development that is happening around them. This in turn should enable more effective community participation in the planning process and consequently more informed decision making. 
2.2    To achieve this, there are two key areas of work that will need to be undertaken – firstly improving how the data is structured and secondly how users can engage best with data. Whilst this work could in principle be undertaken by the existing supplier, we consider that we can reap greater benefits and also insights for other projects by taking this forward as a specific project. For example a better and more focused understanding of user experience in this space may be transferable for other projects.
Data structure
2.3    To enable Londoners to easily use and interrogate the data, the data will need to be presented in a legible and accessible way. In many cases that may mean simplifying some key aspects, increasing consistency and ‘aggregating’ data (for example, the current database draws decisions from boroughs using bespoke language and descriptions, resulting in their being 7 different ways of saying something has been approved).  
2.4    Once the data is structured in a more consistent and accessible format, this will need to be fed through a platform that provides some form of simple user interface.  The closest examples to this at present in the GLA family are the Planapps platform that enables Londoners to explore the Mayor’s role in the planning system or the public interface of the Infrastructure Mapping Application.
User-centred design/ web front end
2.5    A key challenge is understanding how Londoners want to see and use the data and any solution will need to be built on user-led design principles.  This should result in a fairly simple interface for Londoners to use, although we do not yet know what this might look like.
2.6    This platform is likely to receive significant levels of traffic (probably more than other platforms the GLA currently hosts), because the data will be of interest to Londoners, and many other groups e.g. academia as well as directly to the built environment sector.
2.7     This project will need to explore and prioritise the needs of particular types of users and deliver an initial solution that meets core needs as a minimal viable product. Further development might be undertaken in the future to address more detailed / bespoke needs. 
 

3.1    The GLA is subject to the public sector equality duty (PSED) under section 149 of the Equality Act (Act) 2010. The Act requires the identification and evaluation of the likely potential impacts, both positive and negative, of GLA decisions on those with protected characteristics.  The Mayor is to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. This may involve, in particular, removing or minimising any disadvantage suffered by those who share a relevant protected characteristic and taking steps to meet the needs of such people. In certain circumstances compliance with the Act may involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without it.
3.2    The production of a public interface has a direct impact on how users engage with the DataHub and the planning system more widely. It will need to be produced in a format that meets or exceeds our published accessibility standards, and be capable of being understood and of use to all users.  As such we will need to build testing into our programme to ensure any solution delivers against this.
3.3    Careful consideration will need to be given to ensuring diverse representation in the user-led design elements for the public interface and that our user research is carried out with groups that are representative of the population of London. We will ask suppliers to explain how they will achieve this, as well as how they can use the development of digital solutions as a tool to unlock further inclusion (e.g. previous work has resulted in wider investment in inclusivity, for example language tools on PlanApps, a built environment inclusion programme through the AECOM contract and opportunities for career development for under-represented groups through the SHLAA programme).  A similar approach will be undertaken here in addition to the core inclusion requirements. 
 

Procurement
4.1.    Procurement will be carried out as an open procurement, in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code.  An objective in this case is to enable organisations with significant expertise in this space, but that may not have previously engaged with the built environment sector to bid for the work and bring the benefit of their learning.
Risks
4.2.    The key risks relating to this project include:

4.3.    The proposals set out in this Assistant Director Decision support a number of key Mayoral strategies and objectives as set out in the table below:

Conflicts of interest
4.4    No one involved in the drafting or clearance of this document has any conflicts of interest to declare.
 

5.1    Approval is requested for expenditure of £50,000 towards the delivery of a data visualisation platform that enables Londoners to understand and interrogate data in the planning London DataHub.
5.2    This expenditure will be funded from the Digitalisation budget within the Planning and Regeneration Unit’s approved budget for 2023-24 financial year. 
5.3    All expenditure will be incurred by 31 March 2024. 
 

6.1.    The project will be delivered against the outline timetable below: