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Partner levels and benefits

There are three levels of Portal co-operation on offer to local planning authorities in England and Wales: Starter, Advanced and Integrated.

STARTER

This is the introductory level of co-operation with the Portal.

  • Hyperlinks: A number of mutual links will be arranged between the Portal and the local planning authority (LPA) website. The minimum will include the Portal home page and the LPA's planning pages.
  • Content sharing: LPA customers can take advantage of the Portal's definitive planning guidance and useful tools such as volume and fee calculators.
  • Planning application service (Offline): Local authority users can use the Portal's online service to select and complete electronic planning application forms.

 

Please note that applications completed using the service at Starter level must be printed off and submitted to you by hand or post.

Support will be provided by the Portal's team of technical consultants.


ADVANCED

In addition to 'Starter' functionality this level offers authority users the benefits of fully online planning applications.

  • Planning application service (Online): Applicants can submit a planning application and pay the fee to the local authority online. The fee is paid into the local authority bank account and an email notification is sent advising you that a planning application(s) has been submitted on the Portal. The LPA can access the application by logging onto the Portal and downloading it, complete with attachments, when convenient.
  • Interactive development plan: The LPA commits to publishing an electronic version of its local or unitary development plan on the Portal within a 12-month period

 

The Planning Portal provides free training and support for LPAs to assist with the publication of their development plan.

INTEGRATED

At integrated level all planning applications made on the Portal are sent directly the local authority's Planning Control IT System.

To achieve full integration, the local authority's planning control supplier will need to develop an interface (using XML Schemas) which integrates the LPA's back-end IT system with the Portal.

A number of ICT Suppliers have achieved the Portal Accreditation necessary to offer this service. Further information is available here.