Expert system

The expert system is a web application that people can ask: "Do I need planning permission for this?" It provides a consistent, out-of-hours and accurate service to the public. Those people comfortable using a web service may never need to contact the planning service to receive certainty that their development is permitted.

PAS provides 'scripts' that provide the logic and technical planning expertise free of charge. These scripts are then used by ICT suppliers to implement a local system that can use the spatial data held in GIS to automatically 'know' whether a site is in a conservation area, listed or has had permitted development rights altered. At the conclusion of the session, a history of these questions and answers can be printed, together with the conditions applicable.

• Demonstration system
• Recent changes to the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO)
• Community of practice
• The business case
• How to implement an expert system
• Expert system scripts
• Acknowledgements and feedback

Demonstration system

PAS does not make a system for councils. There are four suppliers that provide, or are working towards providing, an expert system package to local authorities. Two of them make a demonstration system - see the links below. Please give them a try. You can help us improve both the content of the expert system (asking better questions) and make it easier to use (providing better FAQs). The expert system scripts are still in the process of validation against the new regulations.

At present (5 December 2008) the status of the PAS scripts is:

Part 1 (Householder): Yes - although there is still active debate on how these regulations might best be interpreted and therefore explained
Part 2 (minor): in test - estimated release December 2008
Part 3 (change of use): in test - estimated release December 2008
Part 4 (temporary uses): in test - estimated release December 2008
Part 40 (Microgeneration): Yes
Advert Regs: next phase- estimated release March 2009

Suppliers working towards offering a compliant system include:

• Caps Solututions
• JDi Solutions - to view the JDi Solutions demonstration system, visit http://pas.jdi-consult.net/expsys/
• Northgate
• Team Knowledge - to view the Team Knowledge demonstration system, visit http://teamk.dyndns.biz/tkflow/flow.aspx?f=20081107_part_1

If you are a system supplier and would like to appear on this list please email pas@idea.gov.uk.

Recent changes to the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO)

The General Permitted Development Order that controls permitted development for householders was revised on 1 October 2008.

The new Part 1 regulations cover householder development, and have been developed in the last two years from the consents review and subsequent consultation. The aim of the new regulations is to remove 80,000 planning applications from the consents regime as part of a reduction in red tape. Further changes are expected to other parts of the order next year, creating a more relaxed regime for small business.
 
The new regulations are framed from a different perspective. Where the previous regulations were concerned with numerical limits on volumes, the focus has changed to being more about impact. Most householders will find that they have more freedom to develop at the rear of the property, unless they get too close to the boundary with their neighbours. However, a number of people in conservation areas will find that some construction work visible from the road now requires permission.
 
One of the risks that councils face is that planning applications are replaced with neighbour disputes and enforcement complaints. The planning portal already has some useful guidance on the new regime. These changes represent an ideal opportunity for the expert system, as users no longer have difficult calculations of cumulative volumetric change, and instead can answer the questions relating to size and position with confidence.

Community of practice

PAS has started a community of practice where interested parties can discuss the implementation of the new regulations.  There are already some useful discussions around definition and edge-case scenarios. We intend to use these discussions to create a consensus across the planning sector that can then feed into a set of frequently asked questions for the public.

The business case

The benefit of the expert system, as described by some its existing users, is both financial and non-financial. The financial impact depends on the number of enquiries, turnover of staff and costs of data capture.
Current users have also seen the non-financial benefits of the expert system:

• enabling customers to understand the planning process
• the provision of consistent advice 
• increasing customer satisfaction from a 24 hour service 
• freeing up the time of planners to tackle more complex queries.
• linking planning advice to other council services.

How to implement an expert system

The system can only be implemented by an ICT provider – PAS are not system suppliers and only create the 'content' of the expert system. We cannot warrant particular providers, and suggest that you seek recommendation from your colleagues. As part of your procurement process you should establish that your supplier guarantees that the content of the system is based on our scripts, kept up to date and that any variation from our content is agreed by you.

The expert system needs to be trusted to be effective. This means that it has to give definitive answers based on local circumstances. The first stages of implementation are therefore to capture all relevant conditions, such as:

• conservation areas
• listed buildings
• Article 3 and 4 conditions (removal of permitted development rights)
• tree preservation orders.

Depending on the volume and condition of your existing data capture arrangements, this task can be a significant short-term investment in time and resources.

Expert system scripts

These scripts are made available for ICT suppliers. They do not contain information in a human-readable format. Some suppliers may find some of the guidance on the archive page useful, but should be aware that the page contains old scripts that are out of date.

PAS currently provides scripts in two formats – visio and xml. Work is underway to convert all the scripts to xml and should be complete by December 2008. Note that PAS does not intend to support all the scripts as inherited from PARSOL, and will only publish and maintain scripts covering:

• Microgeneration (ZIP archive, 791KB)
• Building Regs (ZIP archive, 1074KB)
• Change of use (ZIP archive, 123KB)
• Adverts (in revision, to be published October 2008)

The other scripts – agriculture, demolition, telecommunication infrastructure, caravan sites and temporary buildings – have received such low levels of use that we will not convert, reissue or support them.

XML schema and content

The xml content is available via our discussion forum. To ensure that you are aware of when it is reissued, you should subscribe to the FAO Expert System Suppliers thread.

Acknowledgements and feedback

PAS wishes to thank all those who contributed to this work for your support, and would be pleased to receive further feedback or answer questions. Please contact Richard Crawley (richard.crawley@idea.gov.uk) for further information.