Local Transcribe is a new AI-powered tool designed to reduce the administrative burden on frontline staff by capturing conversations, transcribing them and producing draft case notes for review. Built by Local AI in partnership with local government, it aims to save time, improve productivity and give officers more time to focus on supporting residents directly.
Geospatial Foundation Models and their embeddings have emerged as one of the most exciting developments in AI. In this post, the AI Lab in MHCLG introduces the concept of image embeddings and their potential value for a central government department like MHCLG.
The Local AI programme in MHCLG is working with councils and the Local Government Association to support responsible AI adoption in local government. Drawing on insights from recent council drop-in sessions, this blog post shares what we heard and how we’re turning our learnings into practical support for the sector.
Local AI has been working with councils to explore how AI could reduce repetitive tasks such as drafting personalised housing plans, helping officers spend more time on prevention, casework and supporting local people. The team has developed an AI case workspace proof of concept to test how this could be done in practice.
11 consortiums of technology companies, local planning and combined authorities have been selected for Round 6 of the Digital Planning Programme’s PropTech Innovation Fund, to pilot digital solutions targeting blockers to housing delivery.
A new AI planning prototype, developed with Google DeepMind and Faculty, is being tested with three local planning authorities to help officers process applications faster. The tool analyses applications and surfaces relevant policies while planning officers remain the key decision makers. Our ambition is to halve processing times for householder applications.
Extract, a new AI-powered tool developed by MHCLG's Digital Planning Programme and i.AI, is now available for free, for every local planning authority in England. It converts planning documents into structured, usable data in minutes - cutting a process that can take officers up to two hours down to just two on average.
Regulations have been laid in Parliament requiring local planning authorities to publish plan and timetable data in a standardised format, when creating local, minerals, waste or supplementary plans under the new plan-making system. This marks a major step towards a more open, data-driven planning system.
England's planning system holds decades of valuable data locked in scanned PDFs and digital documents. Extract, an AI tool developed by MHCLG in partnership with the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence, converts historic planning maps and documents into standardised, usable data - so local authorities can make their data available and power digital planning services.
New technology is transforming how planning is delivered. 3 of the 4 finalists in this year's Planning Awards' digital technology category are funded by the Digital Planning programme, demonstrating how AI tools and technology are saving time, improving consistency and helping deliver 1.5 million homes.
