The problem
We want to improve the quality of the data we have on the Planning Data Platform. We therefore wanted to explore if receiving notification of issues and errors in datasets resulted in data being improved.
What we did
We set ourselves the goal of encouraging Local Planning Authorities to be aware of the issues impacting their data. We tested our hypothesis by sending service messaging to ten Local Planning Authorities.
Outcomes
Of the ten Local Planning Authorities contacted via email regarding their data;
- 60% visited their dashboard to better understand issues we raised
- 20% began addressing the issues that we highlighted
- one Local Planning Authority addressed all issues we raised within a week
Future iterations
To build on this work, we will:
- reach out to those Local Planning Authorities who have started fixing their data quality issues to capture insights which will help us improve our notification email approach
- review and adapt the email content
- extend service messaging to more Local Planning Authorities
- investigate how we can automate this process